XI.

another. He is to have no Successor in his SE R M. Priesthood, any more than he had any Predecessor in it: Having neither Beginning of Days, nor End of Life, but being the Son of God himself (to whom Melchisedec was only made like) be abideth a Priest continually,

ver: 3•

So that Christ, you see, is an eternal Priest, with respect to his Person, his Office, and the Effect of his Office. As to his Person, he . neither succeeded any one ; nor shall any one ever succeed him. Of him, it is truly and literally witnessed that he liveth;

and because be continueth ever, he has an untransferrable Priesthood. And then as to his Office, he ever liveth, faith the holy Penman, to make Intercesion; i. e. he will intercede till he has brought all, for whom he intercedes, to Glory. And lastly, as to the Effect and Success of his Priesthood, we are told again, that he has perfected for ever them that are sanctified: Nothing more will ever be wanting either to render or preserve them perfect: He is the Author (faith my Text) of eternal Salvation to all that obey him.

Thus is Christ a Priest after the Order of Melchisedec; a Priest chosen without Re

Spect

XI.

SER M. spect to Family or. Tribe ; a Priest to bless

all Men, in Virtue of one single Sacrifice he has offered, and to sacrifice no more; and a Priest to endure, and to do all that a Priest can do, as long as a priestly Office shall be needful.

But to conclude his facerdotal Office, there is one Thing still remains to be spoke to, and one, in which he is preferred before Aaron and Melchifedec both. And that is, that he was advanced to, and confirmed in, his Priesthood by an Oath. Those Priests were made without an Oath, but this Priest (the Lord Jesus) with an Oath, by him, that said unto him, The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec, chap. vii. 20-22. Inasmuch therefore as not without an Oath, he was made Priest ; By so much was Jejus made a Surety of a better Teftament. For the Lay 'maketh Men High Priests that have Infirmity; but the Word of the Oath, which was fince the Law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore, ver. 28. And most certainly, that Priesthood which God himself thought fit to approve by an Oath, must be thought more excellent than any Priesthood.

And

And now I think I have finished the Doc-CH A P.

XI. trine of

my

Discourse ; and may the Mercy and Goodness of God manifested to us in the Redemption of the World by his Son Jesus Christ have such an Effect upon our Lives and Actions, that we may not lose the good Things he has prepared for them that Love him and keep his Commandments. Amen.

SERMON XII.

The Necessity of Herefies, and the Use

of them to the Church.

I COR. xi. 19.
There must also be Hereses amongst you, that

they which are approved may be made mani-
fest among you.

SER M.

XII.

F ever it can be of Use and Service to Re

ligion to shew that the Propagation of Herefies and Infidelity is of Advantage to the Church; and that it is neceffary to the Support and Maintenance of Truth that Men should continually arise to oppose it ; a Difcourse on that Subject can never, I think, be more seasonable than now. For that Heresies, or, at least, Doctrines opposite to the received Articles of our Faith, are daily broached, and almost every where spread, I need not go about to prove. The Case is evident, and known too well. I wish a single Article of the Creed could be named (the first only ex

cepted,

XII.

cepted, which asserts the Being of a God, SER M.
the Maker of all Things, whether in Heaven
or in Earth; excepting that, I say, I with a
single Article could be named, which has not
been openly disputed and denied. All the
rest of the twelve have been mangled, ar-
raigned, ridiculed and condemned ; just as
the Lusts of Men's Fancy and Passions have
hurried them on. Even those Articles, that
concern the two other Divine Persons in the
most holy, blessed and undivided Trinity, are
all treated with Contempt: One of thofe Per-
sons is denied his Being; and the other, even
by those, who allow his Existence, has been
openly reviled as an Impostor and Cheat; has
met with worse Treatment than he did from
the Jews; has been more than crucified; has
been represented more like the Devil than
God.

When thus the Foundation of our Religi-
on is fapped ; when He in whom is all our
Confidence and Trust, when our Saviour and
Lord, upon whom we depend for all that is
valuable both in this World and the next
'when the Eternal Son of the Almighty God
is thus daily and openly insulted and blafphem-
ed; when his Miracles are reviled, his Insti-
tutions laughed at, his Sacraments annulled,

and