Проповеди и лекции

everent); acknowledging him Head over all. 2. Whereupon, as is well known to Mie learned] and somewhat appnrhcndcd by ^11, the cbui began to forget hei long cherished desire and long* ing after tier King, about to come« whose beiroi! wife she is. to be claimed at his coming, which ii tbe day of her espousals ; atKl she went on to com< mit whoredom with the kind and gracious IK] TH£7Hft£C UNCLEAN SFIBlTtt. 359 peroffi; which God not liaviug prevailed to correct by certaio hU}ir[> ctuLsti&emenU which follcvircd bclw^cQ Con!itaiiUn4;:)in(.IJasuiilan,tii: wait fdin to givQ her over uuto a Bccond and altt»geiher a new kind of opprCfisioD, which Satan had been pio- pariDg from the very moment of our Lord'& ascea- fliou. For no sooner did Sthtan perceive that the dtiiith to which his arts had hrougbt the Lord of gtory, had only fulfilled the purpose of God, ,lo make him Priest to redeem, as well as King to g^^ vem his people, and that he wsu ibout to be re- vealed a» the iMclchizedec of the earth ; this great discovery i^Kton no sooner bod maclc^ than he bc^an forthwith Co work up a new mystery of tiitijtiily iifKjii tliiii idea ur iiitKlelr with which to mock and deceire the hopes of the church, and seduce her from her plighted faith and sure be- trothmcnt As he bad confititutcd autocracy before, in order to draw aitidc the desire of ibe church from the hope of her absolute King, or miDgle her hopes with a false ingredient, derived from the bloody character and warlike rule of the absolute kings which he set forth ; eo now began he to constitute a Melchizedec, a person at once both king and priest. To accomplish which, it was first necessary to destroy that article of faith in which tlie priesthood of Christ resttrd; namely* jujitifiaitjonby the merits of hisdeath only, and by degrees to introduce the doctrioe of justification by works. After which, their wanted but further to place the treasury of these justifying works in the keeping of one man, and to give bim the keys thcrcof,to open and to lock to whom it pleaded him. This being in due time fuiriHcd, the suhstaacc of the priesthood which had been for ever transferred » K s TllETlintK OKCLKAK SPIRITS. [XMk. from the Lcvitical tribe and the faintly of Aorai tvas transferred to the »iicceft?»or» of St- Pctei and now it only remained to constitute ihU prii the Winir also, or rather the k\ng of kin^. am tho MelchiBcdec was complc^ud. How ihi^ ci about I sbatl now sliortly unfold to you. During ihc period of the pagan pcrsecntioi or reign of the pr