CXLV expository sermons upon the whole 17th chapter of the Gospel according to St.…

2. Herein Christs Priestly-office did exceed those Priests in the Law, That they were only typical and did outwardly cleanse, but they did not reach to the soul, neither would they effect any immediate advantages upon it. The Apostle diligently presseth this in his Epistle to the Hebrews, and in his Epistle to the Galatians is severe against those, who rested upon those external Sacrifices, or any works of the Law neglecting Christ, and this truth belongs to Christians also, for the blood of Christ is not esteemed; we think Baptism will clear us, our tears for sin, or duties will compensate. Thus Christ is not in our thoughts and in our hearts: Therefore whosoever doth not in every prayer, in every duty, look to the blood of Christ to cleanse him, he forgets this truth, that Christ sanctified himself for us, we walk as if our duties, or Sacraments, or Ordinances were sanctified to be our Mediators. It's the blood of Christ only that cleanseth away our sins, and that purifieth our persons and consciences.

2. Herein Christs Priestly-office did exceed those Priests in the Law, That they were only typical and did outwardly cleanse, but they did not reach to the soul, neither would they effect any immediate advantages upon it. The Apostle diligently presseth this in his Epistle to the Hebrews, and in his Epistle to the Galatians is severe against those, who rested upon those external Sacrifices, or any works of the Law neglecting Christ, and this truth belongs to Christians also, for the blood of Christ is not esteem'd; we think Baptisme will clear us, our tears for sinne, or duties will compensate. Thus Christ is not in our thoughts and in our hearts: Therefore whosoever doth not in every prayer, in every duty, look to the blood of Christ to cleanse him, he forgets this truth, that Christ sanctified himself for us, we walk as if our duties, or Sacraments, or Ordinances were sanctified to be our Mediatours. It's the blood of Christ only that cleanseth away our sins, and that purifieth our persons and consciences.

3. This Priestly-office of Christ is not only in the oblation of his body, but also in his prayers for us. Thus the Priest did in the Law, so that his prayers had more in them, then any private man, it being a prayer by one authorized and appointed thereunto. Christ in this also is our High priest; his prayers were of two sorts, 1. Those that he prayed for, while here on the earth, whereof this described in the Chapter is a chief one; and the other is that Intercession, which he still makes in heaven for us;