H4 Ver. 29. Book IV. 1lootttng unto 'jjtiuS'. Chap.t. Seer. 8. na"'tf btfori the Lordttpon hi< twofhouldtrsfor a memorial. And ag.n; ,Aaron was to bear the names of the childrenojifraelm the br~aft·plate of judgment upon hit heart; ;.ben he wem into tht holy place for a nzem?rial before the Lord continually. Here we find the names of the 1welve Tnbes of Jfratltngraven in llones,which the high Priell ufu 1 1Jy rook with him into the holy place, when he'appeard bct~re the Lord; liifi, upon his humeral, and _then upo':' IllS pectoral; m both fhcwmg !hat he entred into that place, not only or pr~nc•pally 111 hts own behalf, but ••behalfof the Tribes whom he prefen– ted before the Lord, that they mtght be tn cuntJn.ual remembrance with the Lord; a livelyTypeofChrilfs lhterc<fiion,who beingcnrrcd into the Hoavcns,hc thereappeus in the behalf of h1s Elect. Jnd he prefents 1 heir perfons tO his Father, bearing them (asH were) upon ~IS fhoulders, and upon Ius hcarr; why thus Chrill rakes our per– fans into heaven, and rtprcfcnts them in his own pcrfon to his Father. Secondly, we Ephcf. 2 • 18. find in the Gofpcl a gracious promife, that by Chri{t we have accefs untotheFJtb<r, --3· t;. and iu Chrijt R>e ha7e accrjf wilh confidence. Where rhe word acce{s, "f""''J"?''l Jlgni– fies properly a manuduc!ton. or lradmg by the hand ro God; an introducbon,or bring– ing mto God; alludrRg to the cullome m Prmces Courts, where none may come m– to the prefence-Chamber, unlefs •hey be led, or brought m by fome Favorire or Cour– tier there; thus none may have acccfs into the prefenct of God un!efs they are brought in by this Favourite of heaven,the Lord Jcfus Chrill ; whofe very office it is to brir.g lll<n unto God; he rakes us by the hand, and leads ~s to the Father. q. d. Come Souls, come along with me, and I will carrJy•u totbe Fathtr. Look how a child that hach run away from his ~·arhcr, is taken by the hand of a friend, or of his elder brother, and fo bravght a6ain into the prefence ofhis Far her; even [o all we, having run away from God, are by the good hand ot Chrill taken up, and kd again into the prefence of chc Father; he is chatLadder rhat {acab faw,upon whom we afcend inro the bofomeofGod, and into heaven 1he is rhar high Priell, that rake. our perfons, and bears rhem on hi,; fhoulders and on his heart, fullatning our petfons, and prefenting our conditions-unto his father, and our Father, unto his God, and our God. 5· Chrills Intcrcdlion confifls in the prefenting of our duties unto God. Not only doth he take our perfons and leads and carry them into the prcfence of God, but toge– ther with our perfons he prefentsall our fcnices in his own perfon: Now in this act be doth thefe two things. r. Heobfervcs what evil,orwhar failing is in our duties,and he draws that out,and ta– kes it aw•y,bcfore he prefents them unto God; or as a child that would prefent his Fa; ther with a pofie,he goes into the garden,and gathers flowers and weeds togethn, bat «oming ro his Morhcr,fhe picks out the weeds, and binds up the flowers by rhemftlvcr, and fo it is prefented to the f'ather; thus we go to duty,and we gather weeds and Bow– ers togcther,but Chrill c~mes and picks out the weeds,and fo preli:nts nothing but Bow– ers to God the Father 1 and this is plainly [et forth by that ceremony of the high Priell, Exod. 28.36. in raking away the iniquity of their holy things; And thou foalt mak,e a plateof pure 37· 38. gold,andgrave 11pon itlik,_e the i~tgravings ofa Signet, bolinefs to tbeLord 1 and thoufhalt put it on a ble .. lace,tbat it 111ay be upon the Mitre,z<pon the fore-frsnt ofthe Mitreitjhall be. And it fhall be an Aaronsfore-head,tbat Aaron may bear tht iniquity oftheholy things, wl1icb the Children of Ifraelfhall hallow in all their h•ly giftJ, and it-fha/1b• alwayr upon bisforebead,tbat they may be accepted before the Lord; This was the manner of the Ce– remony,and this was the end ol the Cere111ony, that Aaron might bear and rake away the iniquity of their holy things: what was this but a Type ofJefusChrifl ?_who with his moll abfolutc righteoufnefs .covcreth all the ddech of our good works, which are tlill fpotted with fome defect ? Alafs! all our righttoufnefs are as filthy rags, butChrill draws out the evil of dury,and failings in dury,before he will prefcnt them unto God. z. He obfcnres wlut goool there is in any ofour durics or pelformanccs,and with that he mingles his own prayers and lnterctffilns,and prcfents all as one work interwoven or mingled rogerher untoG od the Father.AndanothtrAngrlftoodat tbe Altar,bavingagotRev. 8 •3, 4· den Cenfir,and there wo1 given unto him much lncenfe that he (houldoffer il ,.itb theprayers ofall Saint1 ttpon the golden Altar,which was before tht Throne; a11dthe fmok,eof the l n– cenfe wbicb came with the prayers of the Saints afcended up before God out of the Angels hand I know tlHrti, a conrroverlie,who thisAngcl fhould be,that with the Incenll:mtn– gles the prayers ofall Slints? Come conjecture h1m to be a en ared Angel,in that <he in~ ccnfc or odours are faid to be giv<n to him, and not to be his own,or to have theq~ of· himfelf: others f,y he could be ftO other but the Angel of the Covenant,for no Angel dorh intercede or pr<ftnt our prayers bur JcfusChrifl; as for that which is fpokrn 'oncerning ·
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