mystical and divine oil, in a visible form, and declares with his own voice from heaven: "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee am I well pleased."

Such was the unction of the blessed Jesus, which was as far above any preceding unction, as was his office above any other office, and his person superior to every other person. And, indeed, whatever there was of dignity, of singularity, or of sanctity in the anointing of any other persons, must all be referred to this anointing with the Holy Spirit and with power, of the Son of God; since they all, not for themselves, but for him whom they typified, received this sign of consecration and if Prophets, Kings, and Priests were anointed under the law, they were so anointed, because Jesus was to be anointed as the Prophet, Priest, and King of the New Testament.

For the anointing of Jesus signifies that he is our Prophet, Priest, and King, as it had been before declared of him, not only in types but in express prophecies; and as we are taught to confess by the inspired writers of the New Testament, "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him;" said Moses, in words which St Peter cites in confirmation of our Lord's mission and St Paul's proof of the priesthood of Christ, turns upon another prophecy of the Old Testament, "Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten

thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."

And why should I speak of any predictive declarations of the royal dignity of the Messiah, or of any inspired adaptation of such predictions to Jesus himself? These predictions are every where so abundant, as to give a peculiar spirit and aspect to the whole canon of the Jewish Scriptures. He is every where Prince of Peace; King of Zion; King of kings. His sceptre, his crown, his throne, his kingdom, his people; the vigour, the justice, the prosperity, the extent, the duration of his kingdom, are again and again declared, in the most glowing colours of prophetic poetry; and again repeated, in the New Testament, in the most magnificent of Christian doxologies.

But it remains to declare, that these titles Christ still arrogates to himself, and that these offices he still discharges.

Whatever benefits the Jewish church received from her prophets, priests, and kings, it is manifest that the Christian church requires the same benefits; and if it was the restoration of every divine and precious gift, and of every kind and degree of spiritual exaltation, which the Daughter of Zion was taught to expect in the days of King-Messiah, it is not to be conceived that she looked in vain for the restoration of those most sacred offices. The glory of Zerubbabel's temple was to be greater than that of Solomon's temple, in those very respects in which it seemed most inferior; in its anointing oil, and its provision for an intercom

munion of God and man. But what was said of the temple was said in a more glorious sense, of the spiritual temple, the Christian Church. Nay, on no other supposition can the prophecy be said to be fulfilled : for glory has respect to those who perceive and ascribe it, as well as to that in which it consists. As the sun would never be called glorious, unless there were some to see and admire his splendour; so could the greater glory of the second temple scarce be prophesied, without an implied promise that there should be some to perceive and confess its pre-eminence: and we know that the glory of that temple arising from the presence of Christ in it, was most inadequately acknowledged, during the life of Christ, and even during the continued existence of the temple itself: so that the material temple was actually destroyed, before the prophecy of its greater glory had been worthily fulfilled. But the glory of the Christian church, resulting from Christ's combined illumination, and priesthood, and dominion, is acknowledged; and we believe and declare it to be our great glory, and a glory in which no material building ever participated, or, from the nature of things, can participate, in so high a degree, and in so high a sense.

But this illumination, priesthood, and dominion of Christ did not close with his worldly career; it is perpetual; the argument of the apostle in respect of one of these being equally applicable to each. They truly, the typical prophets, priests, and kings, were many, because they were not permitted to continue

by reason of death: but this Man, because he continueth ever, is a prophet for ever, and hath an unchangeable priesthood and kingdom.

For we must not suppose the prophetical office of Christ to be fully discharged, in his teaching the will of God so long as he was upon earth alone; seeing that he himself declared that there was much for his disciples yet to learn, and much that they must teach, which had never yet, even by himself, been revealed to man. As a prophet, then, Christ promised, and as a prophet he gave to the disciples, that spiritual illumination which enabled them, with all authority and clearness, to evangelize the world; and to constitute every-where a church rightly governed, as a sure witness, and a mother of faithful children.

Nor yet may we imagine that the prophetic office of Christ ceased with the Apostles, and the illumination on them bestowed; for to us also, in our several orders and degrees, and for our several spiritual purposes as Christians, it is declared by Christ, as truly as to the Apostles themselves: "Lo! I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

And so of Christ's priesthood: it was not concluded in that one act of his offering himself, in his body, a sacrifice for our sins; seeing that it is his part, as High Priest, after the victim is slain, to appear before God with the blood of the atonement upon him; and seeing that intercession and blessing, as well as expiation, are parts of his priestly office. And why need I say that Christ is even now before the mercy

seat, presenting the blood of his atonement before Jehovah ;-that he now liveth to make intercession for us; and that he is the fountain, the ever full and overflowing fountain of blessing?

And once again: as we are not to look on the prophetical and priestly offices of Christ to be past; so neither are we to look on his regal authority as only future. We admit, indeed, that the only purple robe that Jesus ever wore on earth, was cast over him in mockery; that the only sceptre which he swayed was a reed, and the only diadem that graced his brow a crown of thorns; and that there was at best as much of irony as of inquiry, in the question of Pilate, "Art thou a king?" We admit that there is now small appearance of his government in the hearts and actions of men; so small as to form one of the most plausible objections of infidels, against the truth of that religion, which declares Christ's dominion to be a great portion of its essence. But, what though the visible assertion of Christ's power be future. Is it not, however, to be of such a nature as implies that his actual authority and rule are even now present? He is to come as king to judgment. To judge whom, but those who resisted his authority while they were subjects, though in a rebellious world? He is to sit as a king to avenge himself of the wicked, and to reward the virtuous; And would he not be avenging some other potentate, if he exercised his authority over those who were not his proper subjects, even in the days of their rebellion? And where would be the