to the sufferings of the Jews, who deprecated all share in the work of the Priest of the Christian Church, and exclaimed, "His blood be upon us and our children," have been the sufferings of the Christians who disregarded his work, and trusted to the priesthood which men had usurped. That which was spoken of old to degenerate Israel, has been illustrated and fulfilled in degenerate Christendom: "Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks ; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled; this shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow."

The people and the priesthood of the western regions of Christianity, while they contemplate the memorial which is presented for their consideration in the east, should remember, that the prophetic woes of the seventh trumpet are not yet exhausted. They are commensurate with the existence of corruption in the church, and they hang with direful portent over the seat and focus of corruption-the mystic Babylon. In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, the mystery of God is to be finished; corruptions are to be exposed, and punished, and cleared away from the church; and then the world to be universally blessed.

If, however, against those who turn aside from the work of Christ, to trust to the inventions of men, the fire of the disregarded censer burns with indignation, the truth remains inviolable and unchanging, that he is able to save them to the uttermost, who come unto

God by him; because for them he ever liveth to make intercession. Such there have been in every period

of the Christian degeneracy, preserved, like the seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal, in the period of Jewish degeneracy. They may have been so obscure, retired, or scattered, as to have escaped the attention of the seducing Jezebel of the Christian church; or their names may have been cast out by her as evil, and handed down to posterity with epithets of reproach; or they may have been sometimes the victims of her cruelty and rage. They have however formed the true church, against which the gates of hell have never prevailed. Their principles have been preserved, professed, and perpetuated. They are now proclaimed, and rapidly spreading through the world. There is a daily augmenting number, who, notwithstanding the minor and non-essential differences which prevail among them in ritual and forms, yet approximate in heat, and enjoy the unity of spirit, while they hold with firm and unshaken hand the cardinal truths which the Apostles taught; that there is but one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus; that only by the baptismal power of his Spirit applying to the conscience the virtue of atoning blood, can they enjoy the pardon of sin; that only by the prevalence of his intercession can they obtain acceptance with God, and enjoy the light of his favour. They have access through Christ, as their only priest, by one Spirit, unto God, as their Father. They are

built, not upon the foundation of any hierarchy of hu man construction, but upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. The incense from his censer is still presented with the prayers of all saints; and there are four circumstances in the character and work of the Priest through whom they are presented, which combine to secure the acceptance of the prayers, and the salvation of those by whom they are offered.

I. The Priest who intercedes, is the perfect representative of all those who come to God by him.

When the Jewish high priest entered once a year into the holiest place of the temple, with the blood of atonement, and the censer of incense; he wore upon his ephod the breast-plate, on which was engraved the names respectively of all the tribes of Israel. He appeared before God, therefore, as the representative of the whole of the people. He sprinkled upon and before the mercy-seat the blood which had been shed to atone for the whole, and presented the incense on behalf of the whole. But, while he went within the vail, as the representative of the whole of the people, the supposition, that there was any merit in himself, or in any of his family, was carefully excluded, by the appointment of a sin offering, the blood of which was to be shed and sprinkled for himself and for his house, before he engaged on the part of the people. The

supposition, that any merit could ever be possessed by any of his race, which could avail either for themselves, or for the people on whose behalf they officiated, was precluded, by the appointment of the sin offering for the priest and his house being as perpetual and indispensable as that for the people. The altar also, to which the priests only could approach, was to be "cleansed and hallowed from uncleanness," by the sprinkling of the blood upon it; to teach, that so far from the priests conveying any meritorious efficacy to the people, by the services which they discharged for them, those services themselves were accompanied with defiling imperfections, which nothing but atoning blood could cleanse away. "But such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 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 (perfected for his work) for evermore."*

He was perfected for the work of his intercession, as for his oblation, by the union of the divine and human natures in his person. The latter identified him with us in every thing but our defilement, which is

* Heb. vii. 26-28.

hateful to God; the former not only gives him access to the Father for us, but also agreement in purpose and will with him, in reference to every blessing which is to be bestowed upon us. On the humanity, unblemished and spotless, the eye of the Father rests; and ever since the Son assumed it, has rested with entire complacence; in the union of the two natures, he sees the provision of his own unfathomable wisdom and grace, for the combined advancement of our interests and his own glory; while moreover, the body in which the Redeemer pleads for us, is the body in which, by the Father's provision and appointment, he made the atoning sacrifice for us upon the cross.

David was well represented at the court of Saul, for the king's son was his mediator and friend; and whatever Jonathan could accomplish, David might with confidence expect. The sons of Jacob were well represented at the court of Pharaoh, for next to him in the kingdom, and the dispenser of its treasures, was Joseph their brother, who considered his own elevation as the special arrangement of Providence for their preservation and supply. These cases, however, in their combination, but inadequately illustrate the perfection of the mode, in which the Redeemer represents the members of his church in heaven. The love which he exercises towards them, infinitely exceeds, in disinterestedness and strength, that which Jonathan displayed towards David; it induced him, "though he was rich, for their sakes to become poor, that they,