then you will not fear to draw nigh to God, having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, and having a High Priest over the house of God, by Him to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of your lips, giving thanks to His name.31

Did we realize these things, how happy should we be at all times, rejoicing in the Lord God of our salvation. We should be ready to say, with the Psalmist, The Lord is on my side, I will not fear. To please God would be our desire above all things. We should, in simplicity, commit all our cares and concerns into the hands of our heavenly Father, being persuaded of His care for us. We should endeavour to sustain, on all occasions, a character suitable to our profession of being fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God.32 We should seek grace to enable us, according to the exhortation with which the apostle follows up the statement contained in the text, to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. As those who have been delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God, or delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son, we shall adhere to our privileges, and seek to enjoy

33

34

31 Heb. x. 20, 21; xiii. 15. 32Eph. ii. 19. 33 Rom. viii. 21. 34Col. i. 13.

the blessedness which is connected with them. Instead of seeking justification by the law, since by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified, we shall, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 35 Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

For as many as

are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.36 We shall walk in the Spirit, and not fulfil the lust of the flesh. We shall be led by the Spirit as those who are not under the law; and we shall bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance. We shall live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, and sowing to the Spirit, we shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.$5 This is the blessedness which awaits the children of promise. All the promises of God in Christ Jesus shall be made good to them, to His glory and to their eternal salvation.

Are these then the objects of our earnest desire? Since God has given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might be partakers of the Divine nature, and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust; are we earnestly seeking for the fulfilment of these promises to us, thus giving diligence to make our calling and election sure, that so an entrance may be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting

35 Gal. ii. 16; v. 5, 16, 18, 22, 25; vi. 8. 36 Rom. viii. 14.

kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? 37 If we are the children of the freewoman, this will be our character. We shall seek grace from God continually to enable us to live in obedience to His holy will and commandments, as those who are made free from sin, both in its guilt and its dominion, and become servants to God; and thus we shall have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life; because the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, to them that believe in His name. That we may live as becometh the children of God here on earth, so as to look forward with a good hope of being admitted hereafter into His eternal glory, may He of His mercy grant for Christ's sake.

38

37 2 Peter iv. 10, 11.

38 Romans vi. 22, 23.

SERMON XXIII.

FOR

THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT.

CHRIST OUR HIGH PRIEST.

Hebrews ix. 11.

CHRIST BEING COME A HIGH PRIEST OF GOOD THINGS TO COME.

THE character of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the High Priest over the house of God, and as such the Mediator between God and man, is the principal subject of the Epistle for this day. In the former part of the chapter, the apostle had been speaking of the ordinances of the Levitical service; and particularly of the great day of atonement, when once in every year the high priest of the Jews went into the most holy place, called the holy of holies. He intimates that these services were first commanded to be performed in a tabernacle, to denote that the institution was designed to be merely a temporary one. He

declares that the services performed in the tabernacle were a figure for the time then present, or a shadow of good things to come; that they were imposed until the time of reformation, until the promised Seed of the woman should appear to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself;39 or until the great Prophet should come into the world, as the Jewish lawgiver had foretold," who should appear to fulfil all righteousness," of whose work of obedience and suffering the ordinances of the ceremonial law were typical, or a representation of what He should perform in His own person.

Let us consider what is related in the Epistle for this day, respecting the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ;

First, As to the place in which He officiates. Secondly, As to the nature of His offering. And Thirdly, As to the blessings which are secured by it to His church and people.

In considering each of these subjects, we may observe the manner in which the Christian dispensation is contrasted with the Levitical, from which the vast superiority of the former over the latter will be apparent.

May the Spirit of God be pleased to apply to our hearts the instructions of His holy word, that we may be enabled to rejoice in the high privi

39 Heb. x. 1; ix. 26. 40 Deut. xviii. 15. 41 Matt. iii. 15.