Much alloy there must be in all they think and do,—the alloy of self, which ever tends to mix in all things human; and this may sometimes cloud their minds with discouragement, with what seems almost to be disappointment and even despair. But the breath of God's Spirit will soon clear away those clouds; and they will be able to rest in peace in the thought of Him, who is over all, who sees their hearts, who knows their work, and to whom their fellow-men, for whom they labour, are precious, more precious than to themselves. To be fellow-workers with God' is to be without chance of failure. For, what seems failure to us, we must believe, though we see it not, is part of His Divine Plan for bringing good out of evil, and 'making all things work together for good to them that love Him.'

And let us bear in mind especially one word in the text in the prospect of such trials. It is the word ' obedient': 'he became obedient unto death.' Oh the comfort of that word!-the lesson taught us by our Lord's 'obedience'! He did not call evil good, and the cup sweet, which he found so bitter. He did not say that misery-pain-death -was desirable in itself, because God willed it. But he 'became obedient.' He would have had the cup pass from him, if God had so willed: for indeed it was a bitter sorrow to drink it; it was an evil cup, and mingled by the hands of evil men; but he became obedient,' and drank to the dregs what his Father's hand held out to him.

6

May we have grace to be thus obedient, whenever our own time of trial shall come! May this mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus!' Of course, in the strongest sense of these words,-in that sense in which Apostles and Martyrs of old have been made the filth of the world' and the offscouring of all things,' yet showed forth the mind which was in Christ' through all, in their obedience even unto death, often a cruel, bloody death, like that of their Lord,-in such a sense as this, there is no present prospect of these words being ever applicable to the case of any one of us. Yet, probably, very few true Christians pass to their journey's end without some kindred trial of their faith and patience, without some bitter cup to drink, without being called upon, at some time or other, in some way or other, to show forth the mind

which was in Christ,' by being ready, in obedience to God's Will, to suffer pain or shame, or it may be, the loss of something which is dear to them even as life itself. Are we indeed ready for this? I trust that by God's grace we are, or shall be ready, whenever that time of trial shall come. And, though we cry from the sense of human weakness, as our Lord by his life and by his own example has taught us to cry, Father, lead us not into temptation -lead us not into this trial-let this cup, if possible, pass from us,'-yet may we also learn to say with him,-Not our will, O Thou Good and Wise, but Thine be done! Only, if it be Thy Will that we should pass through this sorrow, do Thou deliver us from evil'-help us to be obedient-trustful-submissive,-until, having shared 'the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ,' and been made conformable unto his death,' we shall also know the power of his resurrection '-being raised up together with him, and 'made to sit together' with him, even in this life, in heavenly places.'

VIII.

THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.

PREACHED IN THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST PETER'S, MARITZBURG, ON SUNDAY EVENING, MARCH 25, 1866.

HEB. V. 7-10.

WHO IN THE DAYS OF HIS FLESH, WHEN HE HAD OFFERED UP PRAYERS AND SUPPLICATIONS WITH STRONG CRYING AND TEARS UNTO HIM THAT WAS ABLE TO SAVE HIM FROM DEATH, AND WAS HEARD IN THAT HE FEARED, THOUGH HE WERE A SON, YET LEARNED HE OBEDIENCE BY THE THINGS WHICH HE SUFFERED, AND, BEING MADE PERFECT, HE BECAME THE AUTHOR OF ETERNAL SALVATION UNTO ALL THEM THAT OBEY HIM, CALLED OF GOD AN HIGH PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.

I HAVE mentioned in a former discourse that it is considered very doubtful whether this epistle to the Hebrews was really written by the apostle Paul, to whom it is ascribed in our English Bibles. On this point the chief living authority upon the Canon of the New Testament tells us, (Westcott, p.418):

:

The Alexandrine Fathers uniformly recognized the epistle to the Hebrews as possessed of Apostolic authority, if not indeed as the work of St Paul. The early Latin Fathers [for nearly four centuries, down, indeed, to Hilary, A.D. 368,] with equal unanimity either exclude it from the Canon, or ignore its existence.

But, whoever wrote it, it is admitted that he was one deeply imbued with that mixture of Jewish and Greek philosophy, which was especially cultivated in the schools of Alexandria, and have found their expression most notably in the writings of Philo, the learned Jew, who lived in the apostolic age. A part of that system was the habit of interpreting mystically or allegorically the passages of history recorded in the Old Testament, of which we had an instance a Sunday or two ago, in St Paul's mode of explaining the story of Sarah and Hagar in the book of Genesis :

'It is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. Which things are an allegory; for these are the two covenants; the one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with her children; but Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.'

Similar language is used in the epistle to the Hebrews:'Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.'

And, indeed, the circumstance, that in this epistle so many facts, recorded in the Old Testament, are explained mystically with reference to the state of things under the Gospel, is one argument for supposing that it was actually written by St Paul, who was evidently versed, by reason of his learned Jewish education, in this kind of lore.

However this may be, we have here in the text another example of this kind, where the story of Melchizedek, which we find in the 14th of Genesis, is used as illustrative of the office of Christ. Philo, in fact, explains Melchizedek as representing the 'Logos,' the Word' or 'Reason,' or, as he says, the Kingly Mind,' in man. words are these, (Allegories, II.,25,26):

His

Moreover, God made Melchizedek, the king of peace, that is, of Salem, (for that is the interpretation of this name,) 'His own High Priest,' without having previously mentioned any particular action of his, but merely because He had made him a king, and a lover of peace, and especially worthy of his priesthood. For he is called a righteous king, Melchizedek meaning 'king of righteousness,'] and a king is the opposite of a tyrant, because the one is the interpreter of law, and the other of lawlessness. The Tyrannical Mind, then, imposes violent and mischievous commands on both soul and body, and such as have a tendency to cause violent suffering, being commands to act according to vice, and to indulge the passions with enjoyment. But the other, the Kingly Mind, in the first place, does not command, but rather persuades, since it gives recommendations of such a character, that, if guided by them, the soul, like a vessel, will enjoy a fair voyage through life, being directed in its course by a good governor and pilot; and this good pilot is right Reason. We may therefore call the Tyrannical Mind the hostile ruler, and the Kingly Mind, the guide to peace, that is, Salem. And this Kingly Mind will bring forth food full of cheerfulness and joy: for Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine. For the Reason is a priest, having as its inheritance the true God, and entertaining lofty and sublime and magnificent ideas about Him; for he is 'the priest of the Most High God.'

There is evidently a striking resemblance between this

language of Philo and that in which Melchizedek is spoken of in the 7th chapter of the epistle before us :

'For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham, returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, that is, king of peace, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually.'

The same kind of argument is used by the two writers, and they employ almost the very same expressions. Both of them notice the meaning of the name Melchizedek, 'king of righteousness,' and the title, king of Salem, that is, king of peace.' The Jew of Alexandria says that—

God made Melchizedek His own High Priest, without having previously mentioned any particular action of his,

that is, he notes the fact that he was not self-made, but was made of God, divinely appointed-without anything being said about his previous history, about his parentage or descent, to show that he had an hereditary priesthood,

and

but merely because He had made him a king, and a lover of peace, especially worthy of his priesthood. And so the writer of the Hebrews speaks of Melchizedek as not self-appointed,-he 'glorified not himself to be made High Priest,'-not entering on the priesthood by inheritance, but as one called of God' to be a priest, without anything being said about his previous or his later history, his birth or his death, as one

'without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.'

Both writers, again, speak of Melchizedek as a 'High Priest' (Heb.v.10), though this appellation is not given to him either in the story of Genesis, or in the 110th Psalm, in which reference is made to it, and from which indeed the Scripture writer is quoting. The latter says that Melchizedek in these respects is made like unto the Son of God,' and abideth a priest continually.' The former, the Jewish philosopher, compares him to the 'Kingly Mind, the Reason,' and he says that this is 'a priest'

having, as its inheritance, the True God, and entertaining lofty and sublime and magnificent ideas about Him.

And you will not forget, what I explained so fully in my