three sacred offices of King, Priest, and Prophet; which offices were all in a remarkable and peculiar manner filled by Christ."

He was a King, not indeed in a temporal, but in a spiritual sense; and in this latter sense, the regal office of the Messiah is evidently represented by prophecy. The Angel had said unto Mary, "Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.' But in order to show, that his kingdom was not of this world, and that he was not come to exercise the authority and power of an earthly Sovereign, he performed a miracle, that he might escape out of the hands of those, who would have made him a King. Yet to evince, that prophecy had rightly declared his regal

* Luke, i. 31, 32, 33.

character, he rode upon an ass, in humble state, from Bethphage to Jerusalem, and permitted himself to be greeted by the multitude as the King Messiah; "Hosanna to the Son of David Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest."* He, likewise, openly asserted, "My kingdom is not of this world." traba

The Jews, erroneously interpreting the Prophecies, and confining their views of Scripture to temporal objects, expected the Messiah would arise among them as a great Secular Prince and Conqueror, invested with power to break their bondage to the Romans, and to raise their nation to be the glory of the whole earth. But Jesus had other and higher purposes to fulfil. He came to establish in the minds and hearts of men the kingdom of grace and righteousness; to manifest himself as the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, not by deeds of blood, but by miracles of mercy; and to vanquish nations, not by the power of the sword, but by the force

* Matthew, xxi. 9.

† John, xviii. 36.

of truth; not by victories achieved over the potentates of the world, but by conquests gained over the rulers of darkness. His sceptre was a sceptre of holiness, a sceptre to humble the high conceits of mankind, to subdue the bad passions of their nature, to rule his people with equity and justice, to protect them from spiritual danger and spiritual malice, and to smite all those, who, resisting the evidences of his Omnipotence, and the authority of his laws, would not submit to his dominion. On earth, therefore, he was the King Messiah; and although, according to prophecy, he was "cut off, but not for himself," he has established a kingdom of grace and truth that will never have an end.

1

"God raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his

* Daniel, ix. 26.

feet, and gave him to be head over all things) to the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." At the right hand, then, of the majesty on high he is now seated, the King of Glory, and the King of Saints, and " all power is given unto him "in Heaven and in Earth." On the throne of God, himself God, he exercises dominion over the world, commanding the fulfilment of the laws which he has given us, governing and protecting the Church which he has established, and possessed of power to destroy his rebellious subjects, and to save his faithful servants. And when the day of judgment is come, he will appear in all his majesty, the King of Kings, the Lord God Almighty; and in the presence of an assembled world, he will execute judgment on all who would not have him to reign over them, and "will grant to those that overcome to sit with him in his throne" for ever.

He, likewise, in a peculiar manner,

* Ephesians, i. 20, 21, 22, 23.

+ Matthew, xxviii. 18.

Revelations, iii. 21.

filled the office of a Priest. He came as a King to erect a Kingdom of Grace. He came as a Priest to render that Grace effectual. In order to this end he was to atone for sin, to intercede for sinners, and to bless the people. Being anointed by the Spirit to the Priesthood, he performed the duties of it, not precisely in the same manner as ordained by the Law, but in a way illustrative and perfective of the ceremonies and sacrifices therein prescribed. The High Priest, under the Law, went alone once every year into the Holy Place, within the Veil, with the blood of the sinoffering," which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people.” * But there was no inherent merit in this act and offering to take away the moral guilt of offences. The Priest himself, the rite which he performed, and the blood which he offered, were types and shadows of good things to come under the reign of the Messiah. In Christ and his Oblation we behold the prefigured substance, "the very image of the things," the Merito

* Hebrews, ix. 7,

+ Hebrews, x. 1.