If then you would have the comfortable persuasion of union with Christ, see whether you find your souls established upon Jesus Christ as your strong foundation; not resting on yourselves, nor on any other thing either within you or without you, but supported by him alone; drawing life from him, by virtue of that union, as from a living foundation, so as to say with the Apostle, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

As these stones are built on Christ by faith, so they are cemented one to another by love; and, therefore, where that is not, it is but a delusion for persons to think themselves parts of this building. As it is knit to him, it is knit together in itself through him; and if dead stones in a building support and mutually strengthen one another, how much more ought living stones in an active lively way to do so! The stones of this building keep their place; the lower rise not up to be in the place of the higher. As the apostle speaks of the parts of the body, so the stones of this building, in humility and love keep their station, and grow up in it, edifying in love, saith the apostle. Eph. iv, 16, importing, that the want of this much prejudices edification.

Consider this as your happiness, to form part of this building, and consider the unsolidness of other comforts and privileges. If some have called those stones happy that were taken for the building of temples or altars, beyond those in common houses, how true is it here! Happy indeed the stones that God chooses to be living stones in this spiritual temple, though they be hammered and hewed to be polished for it by afflictions and the inward work of mortification and repentance. It is worth the enduring of all to be fitted for this building. Happy they, beyond all the rest of men, though they be set in never so great honors, as prime parts of politic buildings, states and kingdoms, in the court of kings, yea, or kings themselves! For all other buildings, and all the parts of them shall be demolished and come to nothing, from the foundation to the cope-stone; all your houses, both cottages and palaces, shall be consumed. But this spiritual building shall grow up to Heaven; and being

come to perfection, shall abide for ever in perfection of beauty and glory. In it shall be found no unclean thing nor unclean person, but only they that are written in the Lamb's book of life.

II. An holy priesthood. The worship and ceremonies of the Jewish church were all shadows of Jesus Christ, and have their accomplishment in him, not only in his own person, but in his mystical body, his church. The priesthood of the law represented him as the great high Priest that offered up himself for our sins, and that is a priesthood altogether incommunicable; neither is there any peculiar office of priesthood for offering sacrifice in the Christian church, but his alone who is the head of it. But this dignity that is here mentioned, of a spiritual priesthood offering up spiritual sacrifices, is common to all those who are in Christ. As they are living stones built on him into a spiritual temple, so they are priests of that same temple, made by him. As he was temple, and priest, and sacrifice, so are Christians all these three through him; and by his Spirit that is in them, their offerings through him are made acceptable.

We have here, 1. the office; 2. the service of that office; 3. the success of that service.

1. The office. Under the law the dignity of priesthood staid in a few persons, but now all they who believe are dignified to be priests unto God the Father. And this was signified by the rending of the vail of the Temple at the death of Christ; not only that its ceremonies and sacrifices were to cease, as being all fulfilled in him, but that the people of God, who were before by that vail held out in the outer court, were to be admitted into the holy place, as being all of them priests, and fitted to offer sacrifices.

The priesthood of the law was holy, and its holiness was signified by many outward things, by anointings, and washings, and vestments; but in this spiritual priesthood of the gospel, holiness itself is instead of all these, as being the substance of all. The children of God are all anointed and purified, and clothed with holiness.

2. There is here the service of this office, namely, to offer. There is no priesthood without sacrifice. Offering

sacrifices was the chief employment of the legal priests. Now because the priesthood here spoken of is altogether spiritual, therefore the sacrifices must be so too, as the apostle here expresses it. We are saved the pains and cost of bringing bullocks and rams and other such sacrifices; and these spiritual sacrifices are in their stead. As the apostle speaks, Heb. vii, 12, of the high priesthood of Christ, that the priesthood being changed, there followed of necessity a change of the law, so in this priesthood of Christians there is a change of the kind of sacrifice from the other. All sacrifice is not taken away, but it is changed from the offering of those things formerly in use to spiritual sacrifices. Now these are every way preferable; they are easier and cheaper to us, and yet more precious and acceptable to God; as follows here in the text. Even in the time when the other sacrifices were in request, these spiritual offerings had ever the preced, ence in God's account, and without them he hated and despised all burnt-offerings and the largest sacrifices, though they were then according to his own appointment. How much more should we abound in spiritual sacrifice, who are eased of the other!

But though the spiritual sacrificing is easier in its own nature, yet to the corrupt nature of man it is by far the harder. He would rather choose still all the toil and cost of the former way, if it were in his option.

Works of charity, if they be done with a right and single intention and from a right principle without any. vain opinion of meriting by them with God, or any vain desire of gaining applause with men, but merely out of love to God and to man for his sake, are some of these spiritual sacrifices, and therefore ought by no means to be neglected by Christian priests, that is, by any who are Christians.

Another spiritual sacrifice is the prayers of the saints; Rev. v, 8. Psal. cxli, 2. Let my prayer, says David, be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. It is not the composition of prayer or the eloquence of expression, that is the sweetness of it in God's account, and makes it a sacrifice of a pleasing smell or sweet odor to him, but the

breathing forth of the desire of the heart. Incense can neither smell nor ascend without fire; no more doth prayer, unless it arise from a bent of spiritual affection. It is that which makes it smell and sends it heavenwards, makes it never leave moving upwards till it come before God, and smell sweet in his nostrils, which few, too few of our prayers do.

Praise also is a sacrifice; to make respectful and honorable mention of the name of God, and of his gooduess; to bless him humbly and heartily. Offer unto God thanksgiving. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me. And this is that sacrifice that shall never end, but continue in heaven to eternity.

A holy course of life is called the sacrifice of righteousness, Psal. iv, 6; and Phil. iv, 18; so also Heb. xiii, 16, where the apostle shows what sacrifices succeed to those which, as he hath taught at large, are abolished.

In a word, that sacrifice of ours which includes all these, and without which none of these can be rightly offered, is, ourselves, our whole selves. Our bodies are to be presented a living sacrifice, and they are not that without our souls. It is our heart given that gives all the rest, for that commands all. My son, give me thy heart, and then the other will follow, thine eyes will delight in my ways. This makes the eyes, ears, tongue, and hands to be holy, as God's peculiar property; and being once given and consecrated to him, it becomes sacrilege to turn them to any unholy use. This makes a man delight to hear and speak of things that concern God and to think on him frequently, to be holy in his secret thoughts and in all his ways. In every thing we bring him, every thanksgiving and prayer we offer, his eye is upon the heart. He looks if it be along with our offering, and if he miss it, he cares not for all the rest, but throws it back again.

The heart must be offered and the whole heart; all of it entirely given to him. Christ offered up his whole self for us. In another sense, thy heart must not be whole, but broken; but if thou find it unbroken, yet give it him, with a desire that it may be broken. And if it be broken and if, when thou hast given it him, he break it more, yea and melt it too, yet thou shalt not repent thy gift; for he

breaks and melts it, that he may refine it, and make it up in a new and excellent frame, and may impress his own image on it, and make it holy, and so like himself.

Let us then give him ourselves; and to give ourselves to him is not his advantage, but ours. As the philosopher said to his poor scholar, who, when others gave him great gifts, told him, he had nothing but himself to give; "It is well," said he, "and I will endeavour to give thee back to thyself better than I received thee"-thus doth God with us, and thus doth a Christian make himself his daily sacrifice. He renews this gift of himself every day to God, and receiving it every day bettered again, still he hath the more delight in giving it, as being fitter for God the more it is sanctified by former sacrificing.

Now that whereby we offer all other spiritual sacrifices and even ourselves, is love. That is the holy fire that burns up all, sends up our prayers, and our hearts, and our whole selves a whole burnt-offering to God--and, as the fire of the altar, it is originally from heaven, being kindled by God's own love to us, and the graces of the Spirit received from Christ, but, above all, with his own merits.

3. The third thing here observable is the success of this service; Aoceptable to God by Jesus Christ. The children of God delight in offering sacrifices to him ; but if they could not know that they were well taken at their hands, this would discourage them much; therefore this is added. How often do the godly find it in their sweet experience, that when they come to pray, he welcomes them, and gives them such evidences of his love, as they would not exchange for all worldly pleasures! And when this doth not so presently appear at other times, yet they ought to believe it. He accepts themselves and their ways when offered in sincerity, though never so mean; though they sometimes have no more than a sigh or a groan, it is most properly a spiritual sacrifice.

Stay not away because thou and the gifts thou offerest are inferior to the offering of others. No; none are excluded for that; only give what thou bast, and act with affection, for that he regards most. Under the law, they who had not a lamb were welcome with a pair of