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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>H E B R E W S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The doctrine of the priestly office of Christ is so excellent in
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itself, and so essential a part of the Christian faith, that the
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apostle loves to dwell upon it. Nothing made the Jews so fond of the
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Levitical dispensation as the high esteem they had of their priesthood,
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and it was doubtless a sacred and most excellent institution; it was a
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very severe threatening denounced against the Jews
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:4">Hos. iii. 4</A>),
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that the children of Israel should abide many days without a prince or
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priest, and without a sacrifice, and with an ephod, and without
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teraphim. Now the apostle assures them that by receiving the Lord Jesus
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they would have a much better high priest, a priesthood of a higher
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order, and consequently a better dispensation or covenant, a better law
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and testament; this he shows in this chapter, where,
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I. We have a more particular account of Melchisedec,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. The superiority of his priesthood to that of Aaron,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:4-10">ver. 4-10</A>.
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III. An accommodation of all to Christ, to show the superior
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excellency of his person, office, and covenant,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:11-28">ver. 11, to the end</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Heb7_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Melchisedec's Priesthood.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 62.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high
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God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings,
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and blessed him;
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2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by
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interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of
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Salem, which is, King of peace;
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3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having
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neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto
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the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
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4 Now consider how great this man <I>was,</I> unto whom even the
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patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
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5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the
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office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of
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the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren,
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though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
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6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes
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of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.
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7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the
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better.
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8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he <I>receiveth
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them,</I> of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
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9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid
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tithes in Abraham.
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10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec
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met him.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The foregoing chapter ended with a repetition of what had been cited
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once and again before out of
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+110:4">Ps. cx. 4</A>,
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<I>Jesus, a high priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec.</I>
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Now this chapter is as a sermon upon that text; here the apostle sets
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before them some of the strong meat he had spoken of before, hoping
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they would by greater diligence be better prepared to digest it.</P>
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<P>
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I. The great question that first offers itself is, Who was this
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Melchisedec? All the account we have of him in the Old Testament is in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+14:18">Gen. xiv. 18</A>,
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&c., and in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+110:4">Ps. cx. 4</A>.
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Indeed we are much in the dark about him; God has thought fit to leave
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us so, that this Melchisedec might be a more lively type of him whose
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generation none can declare. If men will not be satisfied with what is
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revealed, they must rove about in the dark in endless conjectures, some
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fancying him to have been an angel, others the Holy Ghost; but,</P>
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<P>
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1. The opinions concerning him that are best worthy our consideration
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are these three:--
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(1.) Therabbin, and most of the Jewish writers, think he was Shem the
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son of Noah who was king and priest to their ancestors, after the
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manner of the other patriarchs; but it is not probable that he should
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thus change his name. Besides, we have no account of his settling in
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the land of Canaan.
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(2.) Many Christian writers have thought him to be Jesus Christ
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himself, appearing by a special dispensation and privilege to Abraham
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in the flesh, and who was known to Abraham by the name
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<I>Melchisedec,</I> which agrees very well to Christ, and to what is
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said,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+8:56">John viii. 56</A>,
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<I>Abraham saw</I> his <I>day and rejoiced.</I> Much may be said for
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this opinion, and what is said in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>
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does not seem to agree with any mere man; but then it seems strange to
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make Christ a type of himself.
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(3.) The most general opinion is that he was a Canaanite king, who
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reigned in Salem, and kept up religion and the worship of the true God;
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that he was raised to be a type of Christ, and was honoured by Abraham
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as such.</P>
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<P>
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2. But we shall leave these conjectures, and labour to understand, as
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far as we can, what is here said of him by the apostle, and how Christ
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is represented thereby,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:1-3"><I>v.</I> 1-3</A>.
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(1.) Melchisedec was a king, and so is the Lord Jesus--a king of God's
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anointing; the government is laid upon his shoulders, and he rules over
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all for the good of his people.
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(2.) That he was <I>king of righteousness:</I> his name signifies
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<I>the righteous king.</I> Jesus Christ is a rightful and a righteous
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king--rightful in his title, righteous in his government. He is the
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Lord our righteousness; he has fulfilled all righteousness, and brought
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in an everlasting righteousness, and he loves righteousness and
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righteous persons, and hates iniquity.
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(3.) He was king of Salem, that is, king of peace; first king of
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righteousness, and after that king of peace. So is our Lord Jesus; he
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by his righteousness made peace, the fruit of righteousness is peace.
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Christ speaks peace, creates peace, is our peace-maker.
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(4.) He was <I>priest of the most high God,</I> qualified and anointed
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in an extraordinary manner to be his priest among the Gentiles. So is
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the Lord Jesus; he is the priest of the most high God, and the Gentiles
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must come to God by him; it is only through his priesthood that we can
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obtain reconciliation and remission of sin.
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(5.) He was <I>without father, without mother, without descent, having
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neither beginning of days nor end of life,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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This must not be understood according to the letter; but the scripture
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has chosen to set him forth as an extraordinary person, without giving
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us his genealogy, that he might be a fitter type of Christ, who as man
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was without father, as God without mother; whose priesthood is without
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descent, did not descend to him from another, nor from him to another,
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but is personal and perpetual.
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(6.) That he <I>met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings,
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and blessed him.</I> The incident is recorded
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+14:18">Gen. xiv. 18</A>,
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&c. He brought forth bread and wine to refresh Abraham and his servants
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when they were weary; he gave as a king, and blessed as a priest. Thus
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our Lord Jesus meets his people in their spiritual conflicts, refreshes
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them, renews their strength, and blesses them.
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(7.) That <I>Abraham gave him a tenth part of all</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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that is, as the apostle explains it, of all <I>the spoils;</I> and this
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Abraham did as an expression of his gratitude for what Melchisedec had
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done for him, or as a testimony of his homage and subjection to him as
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a king, or as an offering vowed and dedicated to God, to be presented
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by his priest. And thus are we obliged to make all possible returns of
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love and gratitude to the Lord Jesus for all the rich and royal favours
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we receive from him, to pay our homage and subjection to him as our
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King, and to put all our offerings into his hands, to be presented by
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him to the Father in the incense of his own sacrifice.
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(8.) That this Melchisedec was <I>made like unto the Son of God, and
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abideth a priest continually.</I> He bore the image of God in his piety
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and authority, and stands upon record as an immortal high priest; the
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ancient type of him who is the eternal and only-begotten of the Father,
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who abideth a priest for ever.</P>
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<P>
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II. Let us now consider (as the apostle advises) how great this
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Melchisedec was, and how far his priesthood was above that of the order
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of Aaron
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>,
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&c.): <I>Now consider how great this man was,</I> &c. The greatness of
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this man and his priesthood appears,
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1. From Abraham's paying the tenth of the spoils unto him; and it is
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well observed that Levi paid tithes to Melchisedec in Abraham,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Now Levi received the office of the priesthood from God, and was to
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take tithes of the people, yet even Levi paid tithes to Melchisedec, as
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to a greater and higher priest than himself; therefore that high priest
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who should afterwards appear, of whom Melchisedec was a type, must be
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much superior to any of the Levitical priests, who paid tithes, in
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Abraham, to Melchisedec. And now by this argument of persons doing
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things that are matters of right or injury in the loins of their
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predecessors we have an illustration how we may be said to have sinned
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in Adam, and fallen with him in his first transgression. We were in
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Adam's loins when he sinned, and the guilt and depravity contracted by
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the human nature when it was in our first parents are equitably imputed
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and derived to the same nature as it is in all other persons naturally
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descended from them. They justly adhere to the nature, and it must be
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by an act of grace if ever they be taken away.
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2. From Melchisedec's blessing of Abraham, <I>who had the promises;
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and, without contradiction, the less is blessed of the greater,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>.
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Here observe,
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(1.) Abraham's great dignity and felicity--that he had the promises. He
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was one in covenant with God, to whom God had given exceedingly great
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and precious promises. That man is rich and happy indeed who has an
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estate in bills and bonds under God's own hand and seal. These
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promises are both of the life that now is and of that which is to come;
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this honour have all those who receive the Lord Jesus, in whom all the
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promises are yea and amen.
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(2.) Melchisedec's greater honour--in that it was his place and
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privilege to bless Abraham; and it is an uncontested maxim <I>that the
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less is blessed of the greater,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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He who gives the blessing is greater than he who receives it; and
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therefore Christ, the antitype of Melchisedec, the meriter and Mediator
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of all blessings to the children of men, must be greater than all the
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priests of the order of Aaron.</P>
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<A NAME="Heb7_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Heb7_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Melchisedec and Christ Compared.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 62.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood,
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(for under it the people received the law,) what further need
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<I>was there</I> that another priest should rise after the order of
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Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
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12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity
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a change also of the law.
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13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another
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tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
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14 For <I>it is</I> evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of
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which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
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15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the
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similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
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16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but
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after the power of an endless life.
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17 For he testifieth, Thou <I>art</I> a priest for ever after the
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order of Melchisedec.
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18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going
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before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
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19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a
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better hope <I>did;</I> by the which we draw nigh unto God.
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20 And inasmuch as not without an oath <I>he was made priest:</I>
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21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with
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an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not
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repent, Thou <I>art</I> a priest for ever after the order of
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Melchisedec:)
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22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
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23 And they truly were many priests, because they were not
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suffered to continue by reason of death:
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24 But this <I>man,</I> because he continueth ever, hath an
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unchangeable priesthood.
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25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that
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come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
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for them.
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26 For such a high priest became us, <I>who is</I> holy, harmless,
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undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the
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heavens;
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27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up
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sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for
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this he did once, when he offered up himself.
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28 For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity;
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but the word of the oath, which was since the law, <I>maketh</I> the
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Son, who is consecrated for evermore.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Observe the necessity there was of raising up another priest, after the
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order of Melchisedec and not after the order of Aaron, by whom that
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perfection should come which could not come by the Levitical
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priesthood, which therefore must be changed, and the whole economy with
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it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>,
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&c. Here,</P>
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<P>
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I. It is asserted that perfection could not come by the Levitical
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priesthood and the law. They could not put those who came to them into
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the perfect enjoyment of the good things they pointed out to them; they
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could only show them the way.</P>
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<P>
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II. That therefore another priest must be raised up, after the order of
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Melchisedec, by whom, and his law of faith, perfection might come to
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all who obey him; and, blessed be God, that we may have perfect
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holiness and perfect happiness by Christ in the covenant of grace,
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according to the gospel, for we are complete in him.</P>
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<P>
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III. It is asserted that the priesthood being changed there must of
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necessity be a change of the law; there being so near a relation
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between the priesthood and the law, the dispensation could not be the
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|
same under another priesthood; a new priesthood must be under a new
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regulation, managed in another way, and by rules proper to its nature
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|
and order.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. It is not only asserted, but proved, that the priesthood and law
|
|
are changed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
The priesthood and law by which perfection could not come are
|
|
abolished, and a priest has arisen, and a dispensation is now set up,
|
|
by which true believers may be made perfect. Now that there is such a
|
|
change is obvious.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. There is a change in the tribe of which the priesthood comes.
|
|
Before, it was the tribe of Levi; but our great high priest sprang out
|
|
of Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
This change of the family shows a real change of the law of the
|
|
priesthood.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. There is a change in the form and order of making the priests.
|
|
Before, in the Levitical priesthood, they were made after the law of a
|
|
carnal commandment; but our great high priest was made after the power
|
|
of an endless life. The former law appointed that the office should
|
|
descend, upon the death of the father, to his eldest son, according to
|
|
the order of carnal or natural generation; for none of the high priests
|
|
under the law were without father or mother, or without descent: they
|
|
had not life and immortality in themselves. They had both beginning of
|
|
days and end of life; and so the carnal commandment, or law of
|
|
primogeniture, directed their succession, as it did in matters of civil
|
|
right and inheritance. But the law by which Christ was constituted a
|
|
priest, after the order of Melchisedec, was the power of an endless
|
|
life. The life and immortality which he had in himself were his right
|
|
and title to the priesthood, not his descent from former priests. This
|
|
makes a great difference in the priesthood, and in the economy too, and
|
|
gives the preference infinitely to Christ and the gospel. The very law
|
|
which constituted the Levitical priesthood supposed the priests to be
|
|
weak, frail, dying, creatures, not able to preserve their own natural
|
|
lives, but who must be content and glad to survive in their posterity
|
|
after the flesh; much less could they, by any power or authority they
|
|
had, convey spiritual life and blessedness to those who came to them.
|
|
But the high priest of our profession holds his office by that innate
|
|
power of endless life which he has in himself, not only to preserve
|
|
himself alive, but to communicate spiritual and eternal life to all
|
|
those who duly rely upon his sacrifice and intercession. Some thing
|
|
<I>the law of the carnal commandment</I> refers to the external rites
|
|
of consecration, and the carnal offerings that were made; but <I>the
|
|
power of an endless life</I> to the spiritual living sacrifices proper
|
|
to the gospel, and the spiritual and eternal privileges purchased by
|
|
Christ, who was consecrated by the eternal Spirit of life that he
|
|
received without measure.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. There is a change in the efficacy of the priesthood. The former was
|
|
weak and unprofitable, made nothing perfect; the latter brought in a
|
|
better hope, by which we draw near to God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:18,19"><I>v.</I> 18, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Levitical priesthood brought nothing to perfection: it could not
|
|
justify men's persons from guilt; it could not sanctify them from
|
|
inward pollution; it could not cleanse the consciences of the
|
|
worshippers from dead works; all it could do was to lead them to the
|
|
antitype. But the priesthood of Christ carries in it, and brings along
|
|
with it, a better hope; it shows us the true foundation of all the hope
|
|
we have towards God for pardon and salvation; it more clearly discovers
|
|
the great objects of our hope; and so it tends to work in us a more
|
|
strong and lively hope of acceptance with God. By this hope we are
|
|
encouraged to draw nigh unto God, to enter into a covenant-union with
|
|
him, to live a life of converse and communion with him. We may now draw
|
|
near with a true heart, and with the full assurance of faith, having
|
|
our minds sprinkled from an evil conscience. The former priesthood
|
|
rather kept men at a distance, and under a spirit of bondage.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. There is a change in God's way of acting in this priesthood. He has
|
|
taken an oath to Christ, which he never did to any of the order of
|
|
Aaron. God never gave them any such assurance of their continuance,
|
|
never engaged himself by oath or promise that theirs should be an
|
|
everlasting priesthood, and therefore gave them no reason to expect the
|
|
perpetuity of it, but rather to look upon it as a temporary law. But
|
|
Christ was made a priest with the oath of God: <I>The Lord hath sworn,
|
|
and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of
|
|
Melchisedec,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here God has upon oath declared the immutability, excellency, efficacy,
|
|
and eternity, of the priesthood of Christ.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. There is a change in that covenant of which the priesthood was a
|
|
security and the priest a surety; that is, a change in the dispensation
|
|
of that covenant. The gospel dispensation is more full, free,
|
|
perspicuous, spiritual, and efficacious, than that of the law. Christ
|
|
is in this gospel covenant a surety for us to God and for God to us, to
|
|
see that the articles be performed on both parts He, as surety, has
|
|
united the divine and human nature together in his own person, and
|
|
therein given assurance of reconciliation; and he has, as surety,
|
|
united God and man together in the bond of the everlasting covenant. He
|
|
pleads with men to keep their covenant with god, and he pleads with God
|
|
that he will fulfil his promises to men, which he is always ready to do
|
|
in a way suitable to his majesty and glory, that is, through a
|
|
Mediator.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. There is a remarkable change in the number of the priests under
|
|
these different orders. In that of Aaron there was a multitude of
|
|
priests, of high priests, not at once, but successively; but in this of
|
|
Christ there is but one and the same. The reason is plain, The
|
|
Levitical priests were many, because <I>they were not suffered to
|
|
continue by reason of death.</I> Their office, how high and honourable
|
|
soever, could not secure them from dying; and, as one died, another
|
|
must succeed, and after a while must give place to a third, till the
|
|
number had become very great. But this our high priest continues for
|
|
ever, and his priesthood is <B><I>aparabaton</I></B>--<I>an unchangeable
|
|
one,</I> that does not pass from one to another, as the former did; it
|
|
is always in the same hand. There can be no vacancy in this priesthood,
|
|
no hour nor moment in which the people are without a priest to
|
|
negotiate their spiritual concerns in heaven. Such a vacancy might be
|
|
very dangerous and prejudicial to them; but this is their safety and
|
|
happiness, that this ever-living high priest is able to save to the
|
|
utmost--in all times, in all cases, in every juncture--all who come to
|
|
God by him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
So that here is a manifest alteration much for the better.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
7. There is a remarkable difference in the moral qualifications of the
|
|
priests. Those who were of the order of Aaron were not only mortal men,
|
|
but sinful men, who had their sinful as well as natural infirmities;
|
|
they needed to offer up sacrifices first for their own sins and then
|
|
for the people. But our high priest, who was consecrated by the word of
|
|
the oath, needed only to offer up once for the people, never at all for
|
|
himself; for he has not only an immutable consecration to his office,
|
|
but an immutable sanctity in his person. He is <I>such a high priest as
|
|
became us, holy, harmless, and undefiled,</I> &c.,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:26-28"><I>v.</I> 26-28</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Our case, as sinners, needed a high priest to make satisfaction
|
|
and intercession for us.
|
|
|
|
(2.) No priest could be suitable or sufficient for our reconciliation
|
|
to God but one who was perfectly righteous in his own person; he must
|
|
be righteous in himself, or he could not be a propitiation for our sin,
|
|
or our advocate with the Father.
|
|
|
|
(3.) The Lord Jesus was exactly such a high priest as we wanted, for he
|
|
has a personal holiness, absolutely perfect. Observe the description we
|
|
have of the personal holiness of Christ expressed in various terms, all
|
|
of which some learned divines consider as relating to his perfect
|
|
purity.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He is holy, perfectly free from all the habits or principles of
|
|
sin, not having the least disposition to it in his nature; no sin
|
|
dwells in him, though it does in the best of Christians, not the least
|
|
sinful inclination
|
|
|
|
[2.] He is harmless, perfectly free from all actual transgression, has
|
|
done no violence, nor is there any deceit in his mouth, never did the
|
|
least wrong to God or man.
|
|
|
|
[3.] He is undefiled, he was never accessory to other men's sins. It
|
|
is a difficult thing to keep ourselves pure, so as not to partake in
|
|
the guilt of other men's sins, by contributing in some way towards
|
|
them, or not doing what we ought to prevent them. Christ was
|
|
undefiled; though he took upon him the guilt of our sins, yet he never
|
|
involved himself in the fact and fault of them.
|
|
|
|
[4.] He is separate from sinners, not only in his present state (having
|
|
entered as our high priest into the holiest of all, into which nothing
|
|
defiled can enter), but in his personal purity: he has no such union
|
|
with sinners, either natural or federal, as can devolve upon him
|
|
original sin. This comes upon us by virtue of our natural and federal
|
|
union with the first Adam, we descending from him in the ordinary way.
|
|
But Christ was, by his ineffable conception in the virgin, separate
|
|
from sinners; though he took a true human nature, yet the miraculous
|
|
way in which it was conceived set him upon a separate footing from all
|
|
the rest of mankind.
|
|
|
|
[5.] He is made higher than the heavens. Most expositors understand
|
|
this concerning his state of exaltation in heaven, at the right hand of
|
|
God, to perfect the design of his priesthood. But Dr. Goodwin thinks
|
|
this may be very justly referred to the personal holiness of Christ,
|
|
which is greater and more perfect than the holiness of the hosts of
|
|
heaven, that is, the holy angels themselves, who, though they are free
|
|
from sin, yet are not in themselves free from all possibility of
|
|
sinning. And therefore we read, <I>God putteth no trust in his holy
|
|
ones, and he chargeth his angels with folly</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+4:18">Job iv. 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, with weakness and peccability. They may be angels one hour and
|
|
devils another, as many of them were; and that the holy angels shall
|
|
not now fall does not proceed from an indefectibility of nature, but
|
|
from the election of God; they are elect angels. It is very probable
|
|
that this explanation of the words, <I>made higher than the
|
|
heavens,</I> may be thought too much strained, and that it ought to be
|
|
understood of the dignity of Christ's state, and not the perfect
|
|
holiness of his person; and the rather because it is said he was
|
|
<I>made</I> higher <B><I>genomenos</I></B>; but it is well known that
|
|
this word is used in a neutral sense, as where it is said,
|
|
<B><I>genesthe ho Theos alethes</I></B>--<I>Let God be true.</I> The
|
|
other characters in the verse plainly belong to the personal perfection
|
|
of Christ in holiness, as opposed to the sinful infirmities of the
|
|
Levitical priests; and it seems congruous to think this must do so too,
|
|
if it may be fairly taken in such a sense; and it appears yet more
|
|
probable, since the validity and prevalency of Christ's priesthood in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>
|
|
|
|
are placed in the impartiality and disinterestedness of it. He needed
|
|
not to offer up for himself: it was a disinterested mediation; he
|
|
mediated for that mercy for others which he did not need for himself;
|
|
had he needed it himself, he had been a party, and could not have been
|
|
a Mediator--a criminal, and could not have been an advocate for
|
|
sinners. Now, to render his mediation the more impartial and
|
|
disinterested, it seems requisite not only that he had no present need
|
|
of that favour for himself which he mediated for in behalf of others,
|
|
but that he never could stand in need of it. Though he needed it not
|
|
to-day, yet if he knew he might be in such circumstances as to need it
|
|
to-morrow, or at any future time, he must have been thought to have had
|
|
some eye upon his own interest, and therefore could not act with
|
|
impartial regard and pure zeal for the honour of God on one hand, and
|
|
tender pure compassion for poor sinners on the other. I pretend not
|
|
here to follow the notes of our late excellent expositor, into whose
|
|
labours we have entered, but have taken the liberty to vindicate this
|
|
notion of the learned Dr. Goodwin from the exceptions that I know have
|
|
been made to it; and I have the rather done it because, if it will hold
|
|
good, it gives us further evidence how necessary it was that the
|
|
Mediator should be God, since no mere creature is of himself possessed
|
|
of that impeccability which will set him above all possible need of
|
|
favour and mercy for himself.</P>
|
|
|
|
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