in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." The difference betwixt him and the other prophets, lay here, that Christ was the fountain-head of prophecy, revealing by his own Spirit; whereas they were but instruments by whom he spake, through his Spirit coming on them at times: 1 Pet. i. 10, 11," Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."

The office of a prophet belongs to our Redeemer, as a Redeemer by power: Psal. cx. 2, "The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion." Compared with Isa. xi. 4, "But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity, for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." And in it he redeems or rescues by strength of light.

And he executes it, by revealing to us the will of God for our salvation. By the will of God for our salvation, which Christ reveals, is meant, the whole will of. God in all things concerning our edification and Salvation: John xv. 15, "Henceforth I call you not servants: for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you." Acts xx. 32, "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." John xx. 31, "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name." We could never of ourselves have discovered the will of God for our salvation: John i. 18, "No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Chap. iii. 13, And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." But our Redeemer was fit to reveal it to us, in that, as he was God, he was from eternity privy to the whole counsel of God, and as he was man, the Spirit, who searcheth the deep things of God, rested upon him: John i. 18, above cited. Isa. xi. 2, " And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." 1 Cor. ii. 10, "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." He reveals to us the will of God for our salvation,

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externally by his word, and internally by his Spirit: John xx. 31, "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name." Chap. xiv. 26, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." And by his so executing his prophetical office, he redeems or rescues us from the power of spiritual darkness, or ignorance: Col. i. 13, "[The Father] hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. Acts xxvi. 18, "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." So Christ hath redeemed none by power, but those who are rescued from the power of their natural darkness: Matth. iv. 16, "The people which sat in darkness, saw great light: and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." Eph. v. 8, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord walk as children of light." His word is the scripture of the Old and New testament: Col. iii. 16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." And the Scripture in his word, in that it was written by the inspiration of his Spirit: 2 Tim. iii. 16, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." 1 Pet. i. 11, "Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." He reveals to us the will of God for our salvation, externally by the word: giving us the Scripture, wherein we may see it, and the preaching of the word, wherein we may hear it: John v. 39, "Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me," Rom. x. 18, "But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." We ought then to look upon our having the Bible among us, and the preaching of the word to us, by his servants, as Christ's executing his prophetical office among us, Heb. xii. 25, "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall we not escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven." Col. iii. 16, forecited. Luke x. 16, “He that heareth you, heareth me and he that despiseth you, despiseth me: and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that

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sent me." But the external revelation of the will of God for our salvation, by the word, is not sufficient to redeem or rescue us from the power of our spiritual darkness: Deut. xxix. 4, "The Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear until this day." 2 Cor. ii. 16, "To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other, the savour of life unto life: and who is sufficient for these things?" Chap. iii. 6, "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." Because when it is externally revealed, we cannot savingly know it, without an internal illumination: 1 Cor. ii. 14, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Acts xxvi. 18, forecited. Christ then doth redeem or rescue us from the power of our spiritual darkness, by joining an internal revelation by his Spirit, with the external revelation by his word: 1 Cor. ii. 10," But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God," ver. 12, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." 2 Cor. iii. 6, "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." Ver. 17, "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

We are to receive Christ as our prophet, renouncing cur own wisdom, and wholly giving up ourselves to him, to be taught in things, by his word and Spirit: Matth. xvi. 24, "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me," Acts iii. 22, " For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, of your bretheru, like unto me: him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." We are to make use of him, as our prophet, daily applying and trusting to him, for light, instruction, and direction in all things: Psalm exix. 18, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Prov. iii. 5, 6, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

QUEST. 25. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?

ANSW. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice, to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making continual intercession for us.

EXPLICATION.

The office of priests was to offer sacrifice, and pray, for the people: Heb. v. 1, "For every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." Num. vi. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, the Lord bless thee, and keep thee; the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." Compared with Mal. i. 9, "And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracions unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the Lord of hosts." And the Lord Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer, is truly and properly a priest: Heb. viii. 3, "For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer." The difference betwixt him and the other priests lay chiefly here, that they and their priesthood were the types and shadows, whereof Christ and his priesthood were the substance, really accomplishing what they shadowed forth: Heb. x. 1, “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect." vers. 9, 10, "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Eph. i. 3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Our Redeemer was qualified for such an efficacious priesthood, by the infinite dignity of his person, and his real untainted holiness: Heb. iv. 14, "We have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God." Chap. vii. 26, "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." ver. 28, "For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore." The office of a priest belongs to our Redeemer, as a Redeemer by price 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and

without spot."

And the parts of his priestly office, are two namely, his oblation, and his intercession. Accordingly, he executes his priestly office, in his offering a sacrifice for us, and making intercession for us.

The first part of Christ's priestly office is his oblation. His oblation is his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God. The sacrifice he offered to God was himself: Heb. ix. 14, “Christ, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God." And he himself was the sacrifice, not in his divine nature, but in his human nature: For the divine nature was not capable of sufferings properly so called: Mal. iii. 6, "I am the Lord, I change not." But his whole human nature, soul and body, was the sacrifice: Heb. x. 10, "By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Is. liii. 10, "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin," &c. His divine nature was, in that case, the altar that sanctified the gift, to its necessary value and designed effect: Heb. ix. 14, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Compared with Matth. xxiii. 19, "Ye fools, and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?" John xvii. 19, "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." He offered up himself to God a real sacrifice in his human nature, willingly yielding himself without any spot of sin, natural or accidental, to suffer for sin to the utmost: Heb. ix. 14, forecited. He was without any natural spot of sin in that he was born perfectly holy: he was without any accidental spot of sin, in that he lived perfectly holy: and he suffered for sin to the utmost, Rom. viii. 32, "He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all;" and that both in soul and body, Matth. xxvii. 38, "Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." Chap. xxvii. 46, "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani? that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" ver. 40,"Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost." He did so offer himself a sacrifice only once: Heb. ix. 28, "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." And that once offering of himself a sacrifice, was begun from his incarnation in the womb, continued through his whole life, and completed on the cross, and in the grave: Heb. x. 5. "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me." Ver. 7, "Then said I, Lo, I come