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
there were some so fond of this old Yoke as that they would have imposed it upon those that had received the Christian Faith Now saith the Apostle Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a Yoke upon the neck of the Disciples which neither we nor our Fathers were able to bear Yet they were forced to bear it till God removed it And in Gal. 5. 1. Stand fast therefore in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the Yoke of Bondage 'T was a Yoke of Bondage How a Yoke of Bondage The Rites and Ceremonies of the Law they were painful and burdensom chargeable and burdensom to all the people to have all their Male-children circumcised which was to have their Fore-skin pulled off which was painful To have the first of their Flocks given to the Priests for Sacrifices To go three times a year to Jerusalem to appear in the City of Jerusalem In a word the Ceremonial Law was so painful and burdensom that the carnal people of that Church did complain of it Mal. 1. 7 8. Ye offer polluted bread upon mine Altar and the blind and the lame and the sick And in v. 13. Ye said Behold what a weariness is it ye have snuffed at it saith the Lord and ye brought that which is torn and the lame and the sick Thus you see the Law was so burdensom as they snuffed at it They were called upon for Sacrifices and they would bring the lame and the torn and the weak They were loth to bring to best of their Flocks when God required it But our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by his coming the Priesthood and Law is abrogated And saith Christ My yoke is easie and my burden is light Why for he hath taken the burden upon himself Our dear Lord Jesus instead of calling for the best of our flocks to be offered for Sacrifice he offered himself a Sacrifice for sins for ever and he accepts of our lame and weak performances that are done with a humble sincere heart relying upon his perfect Righteousness He hath offered up himself his blessed self for a Sacrifice for sin My yoke is easie and my burden is light Yea our Lord Jesus Christ by the change of the Priesthood doth not impose upon us a going three times a year to a certain place at a great distance to worship but he left us to our liberty to worship him in spirit and truth in any place As Christ said to the woman of Samaria in John 4. 21. The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father This is the sum of Christs Law that you should come to him by Faith and receive the Gospel and repent of your sins and to be holy as he is holy The Law of Christ calls for Faith calls for Repentance It also gives power to believe A true Believer he knows that he doth not only command a duty but he gives power also to perform it in some measure to his people The Apostle here gives you the reasons of the change of the Priesthood and of the Law and we are bound to bless the Lord for his new Law and this his new Priesthood and therefore they do very ill that do mingle the Worship of God with the Jewish Ceremonies when the Lord Jesus Christ hath abrogated them SERMON V. Hebrews 7. 13 14 15 16. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another Tribe of which no man gave attendance at the Altar For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda of which Tribe Moses spake nothing concerning Priest-hood And it is yet far more evident for that after the similitude of Melchisedeck there ariseth another Priest Who is made not after the Law of a carnal commandment but after the power of an endless life HAving undertaken through the Lords assistance briefly to go thorow this chapter Last day we concluded the 12th verse of this chapter The change of the Priest-hood and so of the Law Now in these words which I have read we have that great point proved namely That Jesus Christ and his Priesthood is of another kind differing from the Levitical Priesthood And the Apostle proves it thus The Priesthood under the Law was of the Tribe of Levi But Jesus Christ and his Priesthood sprang out of the Tribe of Judah Two different Tribes therefore two different Priesthoods The Priest-hood of Aaron was after the Law of a carnal commandment the Priesthood of Christ after the power of an endless life It is of great concern to all our Souls to have a right apprehension of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ for therein lies our Salvation To begin with the 13th verse For he of whom these things are spoken pertained to another Tribe These things are spoken That is the things spoken of before in this chapter Our Lord Jesus Christ who was prefigured by Melchisedeck who was the Priest of the most high God without beginning of days or end of life without Descent he of whom those great and excellent things are spoken This Jesus Christ he pertained to another Tribe not to the Tribe of Levi what is that A Tribe in Scripture signifies all those that spring out of one Stock Jacob had twelve Sons and the people that came of them were called twelve Tribes distinguishing one from another The Tribe of Levi and the Tribe of Judah c. Now Jesus Christ of whom these things are spoken pertained to another Tribe than that of Levi. Whence first observe The great condescention of our Lord Jesus Christ in associating himself with the Children of men That he that is the Eternal Son of God was willing to be reckoned among men amongst the Tribes of men For you read of him Prov. 8. That he was with the Father from Eternity Yet he rejoiced in the habitable parts of the Earth and his delight was with the Sons of men in v. 31. That the Eternal Son of God should so far abase himself to be reckoned among the Tribes of men This is great condescention But. saith the Apostle It is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah i. e. that he took his Humanity out of that Family which did belong to the Tribe of Judah it is evident And how is it evident that Jesus Christ according to flesh came out of the Tribe of Judah It is evident in the Genealogy in Matth. 1. There you may read that Jesus Christ came out of the Tribe of Judah That chapter and other such chapters in the Scripture may seem to be unprofitable places of Scripture to them that do not understand the scope of them But such Scriptures are as necessary as any thing in the Bible to prove by the Genealogy that Jesus Christ the second person of the sacred Trinity did come out of the Tribe of Judah And for this he is called The Lion of the Tribe of Judah having power to
many times comfort in it But we are not to live upon in-comings of promises but we are to go out to all the promises of God by Faith in Christ For mind what the Apostle saith in 2 Cor. 1. 20. all the promises of God are in him yea and in him Amen all the promises therefore thou mayst take up with any promise that is suitable to thy wants that is suitable to thy condition thou mayst plead it with the Lord As for example Dost thou want inward peace Thou mayst plead over the promise of peace The Lord hath promised to keep him in peace whose mind is set upon him Again Do you want outward supplies Are you streightened in Food and Rayment Be diligent in your Calling and plead that promise He will give Bread to them that fear him in the 34. Psal they that fear the Lord shall not want any good thing Plead this promise let hunger and wants drive you to the promise Again Do you want light and counsel and direction in your ways Plead that promise in Isaiah The Lord shall guide thee continually And that in the 25. Psal Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord him will the Lord direct in his ways Oh ye that have Abrahams Faith cleave to the promises hang upon the promises all the promises in Christ are yea and in him Amen They are ratified in Christ And that promise of our Lord Jesus Christ abideth Ask and ye shall have seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you Ask according to the promise seek according to the promise Plead the promises of God when you fall into any Darkness and trouble of mind I say plead promises for God he gives you all the promises to live upon and let not any poor Christian be troubled or discouraged about receiving mercy for his own weakness or the meanness of his condition for you must know that every Believer is an Heir of the promise though a poor weak frail Creature yet an Heir of the Promise This we ought to live upon in times of trouble But then there is another thing concerning Melchisedecks blessing Abraham that had received the promise The Question here may be What need was there of Melchisedecks blessing of Abraham who had Gods promise for Abraham was happy enough in the promise if he had not met Melchisedeck to have blest him For Answer hereunto there are two Reasons given for it First of all It was Melchisedecks Place and Office for he was Priest of the most high God to bless them that did belong to God for you read of Three sorts of Persons in Scripture blessing others Parents blessing their Children Kings blessing their Subjects and Ministers blessing their People as you have it in Numb 6. 23. Speak unto Aaron and to his Sons saying On this wise shall you bless the Children of Israel saying unto them the Lord bless thee the Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace Now that this was not a Ceremony of the old Law that Ministers and Priests should bless the People appears by the New Testament because the Apostles of Jesus Christ in their Epistles did use to conclude their Epistles with Benedictions But this is not all here intended and therefore 2. This blessing of Abraham it was a blessing of Ratification to confirm Abrahams in the Promise That was the principal reason of Melchisedecks blessing of Abraham that he might be ratified and confirmed in his Faith concerning the Promise From whence we may observe That the strongest Faith had need of strengthning The Faith of the Saints doth need confirmation It is said of Abraham in Rom. 4. that being not weak in Faith he staggered not at the promise verse 20. yet if you look into another Scripture you will find Abraham sometimes staggering at the promise of God through unbelief For if you look into Gen. 15. 1. The Lord said unto him Fear not Abraham I am thy shield and exceeding great reward Then said Abraham Lord God what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless and the Steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus Abraham had the promise of a seed before in chap. 12. But he sometimes staggered at the promise Abraham was at first weak in Faith but after God had confirmed his Faith by this means then Abraham believed the Lord. So Abraham was once weak in Faith but now he was strong in Faith Again Abraham also grew strong in Faith by a higher confirming means and that was the Oath of God Heb. 6. 14. Surely in blessing I will bless thee So that Abraham that was commended for the strength of his Faith he was once weak in Faith till God had confirmed his Faith this way And this was the cause of Melchisedecks blessing him And also the Lord for the strengthning of his Faith carries him abroad and bid him look now towards the Heaven and tell the Stars if thou be able to number them And he said unto him so shall thy seed be And then he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for Righteousness Now the Reasons of weakness in Faith are these 1. Here we know but in part and therefore believe but in part 2. The flesh is weak in all Believers Christ said The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak 3. Those that have most Faith are commonly most assaulted by Satan and therefore have need of the most confirming means When our Saviour saw Peter firm in his profession of Faith saith Christ Satan hath desired to winnow thee like Wheat but I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not Ahraham though he had the promise yet he wanted a Melchisedeck to bless him Now the third thing is Melchisedeck's being without beginning of days or end of life Aarons Sons and all the Priests of the Levitical Priesthood they die but Melchisedeck he liveth he liveth in his order in the order of his his Priesthood for Jesus Christ is a Priest for ever after Melchisedeck's order But here men receive their Priesthood that die saith the Apostle so leave their work But Christ Jesus he liveth for ever who was here prefigured by Melchisedeck But the Sons of Levi they must die for it is appointed for all men once to die and after that comes Judgment Your Prophets do they live for ever Many of the Fathers of the Old World lived a great while But Kings Priests and Prophets must die Great and holy men must die I should enlarge upon this but I shall improve it these three or four ways 1. This should teach us to walk humbly as poor mortal creatures such as death will strip of all our glory all our beauty Oh! what is it that makes men proud and haughty and lifts up their spirits It is because they think more of living than of dying You have a strange instance of this
Lordship of Christ we are to take up three practical Duties which I shall but name and so go on 1. If our Jesus Christ be our great Lord our King Then it is our Duty to study Obedience to his Laws and Commands not to take him only for a Saviour but our Lord For mind it Earthly Lords require Honour and Obedience and shall we call Christ our Lord and Master and not do the thing that he Commands or have no regard to his Word or to his Commands See I pray John 14. 21. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me You pretend love to Christ shew it then in keeping his Commands and in the 23. ver If any man love me he will keep my word so the 15. ver If ye love me keep my Commandments and you shall abide in my love Christ puts all upon love Though he be a great Lord and might exact all service in a way of fear and dread yet he will have all in Love When you are tempted to any sin say My Lord forbids me and I must obey his Commands He hath told us if we love him we shall keep his Words 2. If Jesus Christ be our great Lord then we ought with confidence to rest upon him for protection for preservation for he is a great Lord For pray mind it Though Jesus Christ makes but little noise in the World and other Lords seem to carry a great name yet Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings and as he is the Fathers Vicegerent he over-rules all the Kings and Kingdoms in the World and therefore you may rest in him as the great Lord and as the Apostle writes to Timothy the 1. and the 6. and 15. which in time he shall shew who is the blessed and only Potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords then let us rest upon him for Protection 3. If Jesus Christ be our Lord then are we not only to walk according to his Commands but after his Example in Meekness and Humility see John 13. 13. saith Christ to his Disciples Ye call me Lord and Master and ye say well for so I am If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet you ought also to wash one anothers Be not proud then but say hath my Lord and Master condescended so to his Disciples And shall I slight them and cast them off I have given you an example saith Christ labour then to honour Jesus Christ Now in the next place Here you find that the Apostle useth one word in the Text mind that it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah and in the 15. ver it is far more evident Why doth the Apostle so insist upon it I Answer It is to teach us Ministers that Preach the Gospel to make things evident to the Peoples understandings Plain and evident to their understanding It is a great part of their Ministerial work to inform their Judgments and therefore pray that you may have a plain Gospel-Minister 1 Cor. 2. 5. that in every thing you are inriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge men may make a great noise in Preaching but little to Edification But then here is the Question What is it that the Apostle will make evident That is the main Point in the Text. Why he makes evident that Jesus Christ our great High-priest was not a Priest after the Law of a carnal Commandment but by the power of an endless Life And these are the words I shall briefly open and apply That Jesus Christ our great High-priest was not made a Priest after the Law of a carnal Commandment but after the power of an endless Life Here are two things to be observed First The Apostles removing the Priest-hood of Christ from the Levitical Priest-hood that it was not made after the Law of a carnal Commandment Secondly He gives a description of the true Nature of the Priest-hood of Christ That it is a Priest-hood of power and of an endless Life First of all saith the Apostle He was not made a Priest after the Law of a carnal Commandment What is that Why it is a carnal Commandment that made all subject to the Ceremonial Law You will say Was the Ceremonial Law Carnal Did not God Command it how was it then Carnal Why it was a Command that respected Carnal things Carnal in Scripture is taken two ways First Carnal is taken for that which is sinful and in this sence the Law of Moses was not made by a Carnal Commandment Sometimes Carnal is set in opposition to Spiritual things and so it is put for things concerning the Body and not for the Soul If we have sown unto you Spiritual things Is it a great thing if we shall reap your Carnal things And in this sence the Ceremonies of the Law were called Carnal things because they did only reach to the Body they were but shadows of Heavenly things and therefore the Apostle in his Epistle to the Colossians called them Worldly rudiments Col. 2. 20. Why so Because all those Ceremonial Laws were not of an heavenly nature as the things of the Spirit are but they only concerned outward things Mind this The Jews they doted much upon their Ceremonial Rites before Christ came and after Christ came they did stick much to their carnal and worldly Ceremonies And therefore the Apostle Paul in a holy anger speaks to the Galatians O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the Truth to turn aside from Christ the substance to carnal things to worldly things which are but shadows And this is to be observed and oh that we could observe it more that in the corrupt nature of man there is a carnal disposition that leads him out to worship God in a carnal way And that is the scope of the Apostle here Look upon the Worship and Religion of the Papists and you will see 't is but a carnal Religion They have their curious Images and Pictures What doth this avail a Soul to have a rich pompous Altar a rich Garment for the Priest to have pompous Processions and curious Musick What are these to the Soul And as for us that have the Reformed Religion how many amongst us delight to worship God after the Law of a carnal Commandment Are there not too many amongst us which are more for old Abrogated Ceremonies than they are for a Gospel Worship Bewail and lament the Apostacy of this Generation These Ceremonies of the Old Testament tho' they were carnal and low things in themselves yet they had a spiritual signification put upon them by God and so had a great excellency in them whilst God was pleased to continue them But now that God hath abolished them Paul calls them carnal things And so we may call all Mediums of Worship that are not of Gods appointment Now for the second which is the description of the Priesthood of
when God is said to revoke a Threatning or disannul a Law he is then said after the manner of men to repent But concerning the Priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ that is so settled not only by Promise but by Oath to take us off from all doubting and hesitation about this matter the Lord hath Sworn and will not Repent concerning his Son Jesus Christ but he has solemnly Justified him to be a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck which Law cannot be Abrogated Now here the Question is Vpon what account is it that the Priesthood of Jesus Christ by which we draw nigh to God hath such a solemn Justification above the Levitical Presthood Why Jesus Christ is made a Priest with an Oath when other Priests are made without an Oath There are many Grounds and Reasons of that which may be a great help to our Faith First of all God hath a greater honour for his Son that for all the Children of Men. He is nearer to the Father and dearer to the Father and therefore whatever he bestows upon his Son shall never be taken away from him God set up the posterity of the Tribe of Levi for the Priesthood but he only set them up as Servants for a time for saith our Lord a Servant abideth not in the House for ever but a Son abideth for ever Levi and his posterity they were but Servants and God turns them out but he setteth up his Son for ever The Father Loveth the Son and giveth all things to him he honoureth his Son he will have all his holy Angels to bow down to his Son in Heb. 1. 3 5. the Apostle speaking of Christs purging us from sin saith he in the 5 ver To which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee and again Let all the Angels Worship him The Angels of God are much better than Men in respect of the excellency of their being One Angel hath more strength than thousands of Men but they must all Worship the Son and he that is set down at the right hand of God the Father the Father hath given his Oath he shall never be removed but abide for ever Secondly The Priesthood of Jesus Christ hath this solemn Institution to be confirmed by a Divine Oath Because he is alsufficient to go through that great work God raised up the Priesthood of Old to do Service but not such Service as our great High Priest He never said unto the People believe in the High Priest but he said believe in my Son Jesus believe in him because he is able to save The other High Priests were not able to Save the High Priests of old could never give their lives for a Sacrifice for the Peoples lives they were only to offer up Bulls and Goats and Heifers and such kind of Offerings but our great High Priest he is appointed of the Father to give himself a Sacrifice for his people and therefore has a higher Priesthood than the Levitical Priest-hood John 10. 17 18. Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again This Commandment have I received of my Father God never put so hard a service upon those High Priests of old but he put this upon his own Son and his Son was willing to bear his Command I am willing to receive this Command from my Father God hath sworn and he will not repent that his Son should be a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck because that none were ever able to carry on that work but he Thirdly Jesus Christ is thus solemnly justified and made a Priest by Oath in the Church of God because the Church is his own Body and his own People The Priesthood of old God set them up for his Service and he will reward them for it for they had the Tenths of the People which was then great but still the Church was not their People nor their Body but Jesus Christ he is as a Son over his own House Heb. 3. 6. Christ is as a Son over his own House It is a great blessing to have such a High Priest as hath an interest in the whole People to whom he is a Saviour for he is the head of that People and a Saviour of the Body If the Lord Jesus Christ his Priesthood were disannulled the Church would be lost they could not be brought to Salvation Thine they were and thou gavest them me The Church is given to Christ to be his Mystical Body and he is their Priest for ever to sanctifie and cleanse it that he may present it to himself a Glorious Church without spot or wrinkle But then Fourthly Jesus Christ is made a Priest by Oath for ever because unto him shall be the gathering in of all Gods Elect of all nations in the World and they are all to come to his Priesthood it is of a large extent When the Levitical Priesthood was confined to the Jews only they could not offer a Sacrifice for the Heathens or another People but Jesus Christ he is an Offering for all People in all Nations of those that Believe in his Name And this is according to Jacobs Prophesie in Gen. 49. 10. That when Shilo shall come unto him shall be the gathering of the People compare this with Isa 49. and there you will see the thing further illustrated in the 6 ver And he said It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my Servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayst be my Salvation unto the ends of the Earth Observe it the Father said unto the Son It is but a light thing for thee to be a Priest only for Jacob and Israel I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles It was but a light thing for Christ to be a Saviour to Israel in the Land of Judea But Jesus Christ shall be a Saviour to all the Earth I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles Fifthly He is made a Priest for ever and confirmed therein by an Oath Because of his transcendent Wisdom Mercifulness Faithfulness and Holiness above all the Priests of old He is a High Priest to appear for Man in things appertaining to God and had need of Wisdom And saith the Apostle in him are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge And for mercy it was a necessary qualification in the High Priests of old that he might be a Man of compassion and pity to succour the poor and tempted and afflicted in the Church And our Lord Jesus Christ he is transcendently Merciful He will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoking Flax he will have compassion
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