SECT. 7, 8.] EXPLAINED AND VINDICATED. 158
immediate transaction between him and the Father before the world was. This call of his, therefore, may be considered either with re- spect unto designation or manifestation. As it intends the designa- tion of Christ unto his office, so it is expressed in these words of God the Father to him, “Thou art my Son, this day have I be- gotten thee;” which what they import in the covenant transactions between the Father and the Son hath been before declared. The manifestation of this call consisted originally in the first promise given concerning his incarnation and undertaking of the work of our redemption, Gen. iii. 15. With respect hereunto he says, Ps. xl. 8, 9, ‘ass Tis nibye ‘oy and ap-Nbya *NNA~TAA AN s—* Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book,’—that is, YN°2 nav, “in the beginning of the sacred volume,” as our apostle ren- ders it, év xeguAidu, “in the head” of it, Heb. x. 7; that is, in that first promise, recorded in the beginning of the Scripture, wherein his own consent was tacitly included, and the virtue of his office and sacrifice established, whence he became the “ Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”” And more need not be added in this place concerning this call of Christ unto the office of the priest- hood.
8. His actual inauguration into it, and susception of it, is next to be considered. And he was vested with all his offices from his con- ception and nativity. There was no time wherein he was, as to his human nature, and was not the king, priest, and prophet of his church; for he received all his offices by the unction of the Spirit, when God “ anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows.” And this was done fundamentally in his incarnation, when he was conceived and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, communicated unto him not by measure. And so he was born “Christ the Lord,” Luke ii. 11. He was born one anointed by the Holy Ghost, Lord, and conse- ‘quently priest and prophet,—all which offices were communicated by unction. Together with those graces, gifts, and abilities, which were necessary to their discharge, right, title, and authority for their exercise in their proper seasons were conveyed unto him thereby. And in these two doth all office and power consist.
The actual exercise of all the offices of Christ was regulated by the will of the Father, his own wisdom and compliance therewithal, with the order and nature of the things themselves about which he was to be conversant therein. He was anointed to be the great prophet of the church from the womb; yet he entered not upon the public discharge of that office until after his baptism, when his commission and call thereunto were proclaimed from heaven, Matt. iii. 17. So also was he “Christ the Lord,”—that is, the king of the church; yet began he not visibly to exercise that office in his own person until
154 TRUE NATURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD.OF CHRIST [EXERC. XXXI.
the mission of his apostles with authority from him to preach the gospel, Matt. x. So had God disposed of things, and so did the nature of the work which he had to do require. And as to his priestly office, he neither did nor could enter upon the exercise and discharge of it until the end of his prophetical ministry; for he could not do it but by his death, which was to put an end unto that mi- nistry here on the earth, excepting only the instructions which he gave to his apostles after his resurrection, Acts 1. 3.
But to propose the whole matter somewhat more distinctly, there are three things that concurred unto the inauguration of the Lord Christ unto this office, or there were degrees of it:—(1.) His real unction by the Holy Ghost with an all-fulness of gifts and graces, at his incarnation. This whole work of the Spirit, with its effects, T have elsewhere at large discussed,’ and shall not further insist upon it. (2.) His declarative unction at his baptism, when the Spirit descended upon him, and filled him with power for the exercise of all the gifts and graces he had received for the discharge of his whole office. (8.) Unto both these there succeeded an especial dedication to the actual performance of the duties of this office. And this was his own act, which he had power for from God. This himself expresseth, John xvii. 19, ‘Yatp abréiv éya ayidlo euaverdy-— “T sanctify,” that is, I consecrate or dedicate, “myself” For of real sanctification, by purification and further infusion of grace, he was not capable: and the communication of real grace to the human nature was the work of the Holy Ghost; he did not so sanc- tify himself. But he did dedicate, separate, and consecrate himself unto God, in the discharge of this office. It doth also respect the sacrifice which he was to offer: ‘I consecrate and give up myself to be a sacrifice.’ But he who was to be the sacrifice was also to be the sacrificer. This consecration, therefore, respected his person, and what he was to do as the sacrificer, no less than what he was to suffer as a sacrifice; for this also was necessary, and every high priest was so consecrated.