THIRTY-FIRST MEDITATION.

PRIEST.

MY SAVIOUR" abideth a Priest continually,"* and therefore, " because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood." The sacerdotal office became necessary, as soon as divine mercy had appointed typical sacrifices; and it must have been filled, in the first place, by Adam. It then, probably, descended to the eldest of the family, as one of the rights of primogeniture, and formed a chief part of the dignity with which the patriarchal character was invested. In the person of Melchisedec, it was united with the regal dignity. During the period of Israel's bondage in Egypt, sacrifice seems to have been suspended, and faith was left without those visible symbols—those sacraments of religion, which have ever been an important help to its infirmity. When the great family of Abraham was emancipated and redeemed, God was pleased

* Heb. vii. 3.

+ Heb. vii. 24.

Ex. v. 3.

to institute a permanent and exclusive priesthood, to be continued in the family of Aaron, until the true Melchisedec should come, under whom both the priesthood and the law should be changed.*

Still, my faith, even under the more glorious ministration of the gospel, is greatly aided by the illustrations of my Saviour's priestly office, afforded by that of the Aaronic priesthood. Like Aaron and his sons, our great High-Priest was anointed, but with a far more costly unction,that of the Holy Ghost. All my oblations and services are offered and rendered acceptable unto God by the Lord Jesus, who stands before the heavenly mercy-seat, with the golden censer, filled with the rich incense of his own merits.† Once every year, the high-priest, in a white robe, entered the holy of holies with atoning blood, to expiate the sins of the people. I rejoice to know that my Saviour has entered the heaven of heavens once and forever with his own blood, in behalf of his people—in my behalf, invested with the glorious apparel of a spiritual body. Israel's was an annual and typical redemption. Mine is an actual and "eternal redemption." In that great typical atonement,

*Heb. vii. 12. + Rev. viii. 3.

Heb. ix. 12.

no other man participated than the officiating high-priest ; and my Lord was alone in the grand atoning sacrifice of himself. The work was exclusively his, and not a particle of the glory shall be withheld from him.

O my soul, indulge thyself more frequently in the sweet and holy luxury of meditation upon the past and present work of thy 66 faithful ” * and compassionate High-Priest, who has undertaken for thee all that thou requirest to be done, to secure the irreversible remission of thy guilt, the acceptance of thy person, and thy safe passage through time into eternity, where, through him, thou wilt thyself be made 6 king and a priest unto God.” | Commit to him thy every care. Have recourse to him in every

Open to him every wound in thy heart. Candidly confess to him thy every sin. He knew the whole amount of thy guilt, when, in his own person of most exalted dignity, he laid the all-sufficient offering upon the altar of the

He then provided for all the possible and infinite necessities of souls, for whom he knew there could be no remission, without the shedding of blood.

a

sorrow.

Gone are Judea's priestly train,

Her ark, her altars, and her shrine; No bleating victims now are slain, Where Zion's rocky summits shine: deathly silence all,

"Tis silence

Round ruined Salem's ploughshared wall.

Yet there the wandering pilgrims weep,
Of Christian or of Jewish name;
For there beneath the crescent sleep
The ashes of that altar's flame,
Which faith's ten thousand offerings fed —
Where faith's unnumbered tears were shed.

But, lo! on yon sublimer height.
An ampler, purer temple stands;
And see! within its courts of light,

A godlike form uplifts his hands:
My Saviour Priest is offering there
The incense of unceasing prayer.

With soft compassion touched, he knows,
For he has felt, the sinner's grief:
To all our doubts and all our woes

He promises and gives relief.

My soul, dismiss thy self-distracting fears;

Thy SAVIOUR PRIEST for thee in heaven appears.

THIRTY-SECOND MEDITATION.

PROPHET.

My Saviour is my PROPHET, as well as my Priest and my King. This name, and the office attached to it, were sustained by a “goodly fellowship ” of men, whom God raised up at different periods, for the benefit of the church, and for the warning of an ungodly world. They were inspired to foretell events beyond the limits of human sagacity to foresee, the fulfilment of which should constitute a series of standing miracles, coeval with the history of the world. They were also the appointed messengers of God on special errands; to establish the truth of which they were often endowed with miraculous powers. The prophets likewise filled the office of public instructors, and were consecrated to their employment by a peculiar anointing. They were types of my Saviour, teaching by words of wisdom, and by works of power.