12 An Expojition of the Epij11e ~ rhers, , Cor. 4· 5"· ble!Ted their Children, as here, with Gr.tce and Pe.tce; ro Serm. I. our Apo!lle ble!l Timothy under this very relation, 1Ttm. 1, 2, To Tm10thy my ~own So1ti11 the Faith, GracermdTeace, &c. the like he dotllto 7it>H, and !o · to thefe Ephejimts and others he wrote to. And that which more confirms the taking it tor a blciling, is the coP.fcrmity ·which the matter of the blelling hath with that bleiling the Priefis (the Minifiers of the Old Tefiament, as we are of the New ) were to pronounce upon the people as an Ordinance of God, Numb. 6. 2~, 24, 2). for if you more exactly view and coml'are the matter of their ble!Ting there, and of th1s here, 1t comes all to one, and 1s tl\e fame for fubilance; which I the rather obferve, that you may fee how the words of ble!Tiog under the Gofpel were derived from the Jews, as the words of falutatiomvere (as was afore obferved.) The B!e!Ting t·hen ran thus, verf 2). Jehovah m.th hi< face jhi11e 01: thee, a11d be Gracio>H /o thee (his Face imports. hi< grace.or fa– vour, as Tja!, So. •9· Gmfe thy face tojhi1Ze, mtd wefha/J be faved; and fo the words following Interpret it, ttltd begraciotu to thee) here you fee is Gr.Ice; thenverf 26. The Lord !1{1 "P hu cowztmm;ce mtdgive theeTeace, namely, as the fruit of that his favour, and as the c'lnclufion of all ble!lings, as it is often made (foTfa!. 29. 1r. Tbe Lord wi/J.b!efs hi<people withpeace; and likewif6 Tfal. 12).)• Teace bettpolllfrael) which he pronounceth at !aft as the fum and fubfhnce of all BjeJ!ings,there is Teace alfo. l3ut yet whether it be a New Teila– ment Inilitution for Mini!lers to pronounce fuch words as a blelling, or a farewcl falutation only, is a Qlle!lion made by fame, becaufe in the New Tefiament there is no mention of any fuch Ordinance under the term of ble!Ting; thtre is of praying for them, .'Jam.). 1 + There is of ble!Ting the Elements in the Sacra– ments; fa 1Cor, 10. 16. but no where ofblefsing (fay they) !he Churches publickly ; and further, fay they, the Pneils 111 that were Types of Chri!l (as in Sacrificing alfo they were) who was [mt to blefs hupeop!e, Ads 3· 26. But the mifiake I conceive lies in this, that that eminent way of blefsincr' us which is peculiar unto Chriil Jefus, was typified out on purpofe by a far gr~ate; Prieilhood than that of Attro;/s fans, even by Melchijedech's Prie!lhood, who therefore as amore tranfcendent Type of Chriil, ble!Ted' Abraham the Father of the Faithful, and fo all faithful in him, Heb. 7· 6, 7· and in that Blefsing perfo– nated a greater Perfon than Abraham, verj. 7· even Chnil--But otherwife to blefs is a moral Infiitution, and oat meer!y Typical, for one man bleifeth ano– ther, and that as Brethren, Tjal129. 8. they that go by the Reapers of Corn, fay. The bleJ!i"g of the Lordbe upo11yott: we 6/efs yott iu the tJame of the Lord. And as thus one man may blefs another ; fo thofe who have any fpecial relations unto others, may according to the compafs or extent of that relation, blefs thofe they have relation to, and that with a 1pecial blefsing fuiting ·that their relation. Thus Parents blefs their Children with a fpecial blefsing·; thus King's, Subjects; fo'David, 2 Sam.6.18. and So!omo11, 1Ki11g.8. H· And fa in like manner the Prieils the people, in refpect oftheir Miniilerial relation unto them; And there– fore there is not the like reafon for their blefsing the people, and of their facr[– ficing for the people, which Kings were not to do; Sacrifice was wholly a Cere– monial adion, but Blefsing a Morallnfiitution. And befldes the Prie!ls as they are Types of Chrift; fa of the Miniilers of the Gofpel alfo, as in the Prophecy of the times of the Gofpel, Ifa. 66.21. and therefore in what was Moral in their Office (as in teaching, t!ic. fo in blefsing) what they did may fafely be taken as Types of tnofe Miniilerial actions which we are to perform : And that which confirms me in it is, that the Apof\les blefsing (as we have feen) for the mat– ter of it, is the fame that that of the Prieils was, Nttmb. 6, and fo the action of blefsing, of t,he fame Morality with the matter it felf. And I fee no reafon but that if they blefs the Elements in our Sacraments, as the·Prief\s did their Ordi– nances then, but that they 1hould blefs the people alfo, and that as Minillers they being in Chrif\'s fiead in and unto both, as the Apofile fpeaks, 2 Cor."). 20: ;And fure!y (as was faid) every relation of receiving or dl!ing good to other~, Is made by God a ground of conveying a blefsing by the well-wilhes of thofe in that relation; Thus if a Poor man receives relief from a Rich man, fa he is en– dowed with power or rather priviledge from God to blefs him that is the infhu– ment of good to him, and by his hearty blefsing him effectually to return th,tt good
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