willing and not constrained service to God; and like the palm-trees, lofty in righteousness, and ever bringing forth fruit. Psa. xcii. 12-14. The palm-tree is one of the ornaments of the future temple described by Ezekiel, and was also one of the embellishments of Solomon's temple. It is peculiarly the tree of the desert flourishing where no other could exist; ever marking out to the weary traveller the spot, amidst surrounding desolation, where a grateful shade, and spring of living water, are to be found; and remarkable for longevity and ceaseless fruitfulness. Thus it was an apt emblem of the heavenly priesthood. The wording of the first verse is remarkable: "Take unto thee Aaron, and his sons with him, that he may minister." Aaron and his sons formed but one ministry in the priest's office: and Aaron could not exercise his service, unless his sons were taken with him. Is there not in this, an intimation of the union in priesthood of Christ and his house; and that one great object of his priesthood is, that He may minister to God respecting his house? THE GARMENTS FOR GLORY & BEAUTY. "And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. "And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. "And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office."-Exod. xxviii. 2-4. 1 THE garments for glory and beauty are next directed to be made, that Aaron might be consecrated, in order to minister in the priest's office. Thus Aaron was fitted, by reason of his garments, for this holy office. They dignified his person, covering him with a glory and beauty, which in himself he possessed not. To all this, the priesthood of the Lord stands out in bright and blessed contrast. The dignity and glory which are His, and which were His from everlasting as the Son, magnify the office which He holds. His life of obedience, and his death upon the tree, making Him manifest as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, proved Him to be worthy of the highest exaltation at the right hand of God; and that He had the heart of a priest, and of a good shepherd, who would care to the uttermost for the sheep of God. The office added dignity to Aaron: whereas Christ dignifies the office. It may be well here to point out some of the contrasts drawn in the word of God, between the priesthood of Aaron and that of Christ. Aarón was called to be priest whilst living amongst men. The Lord Jesus was called by resurrection from among the dead to be a high priest. The fact of resurrection, when God said to Him, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," constituted Him high priest; for sonship is the great element of the heavenly priesthood. Indeed the whole Epistle to the Hebrews, turns upon that especial name of the Lord Jesus, "the Son." All the beauty and glory of the Gospel is connected with that name. It is the name which the Lord holds because He is God; and therefore when a believer is baptised, he is baptised into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; the names forming but one name of the Godhead. The love of God in the gift of Christ all turns upon that wondrous truth, that He was and is the onlybegotten Son of God; not because made of a woman; not because made flesh; but because of His eternal relationship of wondrous divine existence, to the Father; incomprehensible indeed to us, as is the whole mystery of the Sonship; (for none knoweth the Son, but the Father;) but received by faith. The love of God in the gift of Christ depends upon this great truth. It was not a love which merely caused the incarnation of the Word, and thereby established a new relation of Sonship, which had not previously existed. Had this been the case, it would not have been true that God sent, or gave, his only begotten Son. He could not give, or send, a Son whom He possessed not. Neither did any fresh love spring up in the heart of the Father towards the Word made flesh. No new affection of Father towards Son commenced, when the blessed Lord was born of the Virgin. But that eternal love towards His Only-Begotten, the ever existing One in the bosom of the Father-that love which God had reposed in Him who was ever the Son, the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person-that love manifested itself towards poor ruined fallen creatures ; so that God has proved, in the gift of Jesus, that He has loved us, worms of the dust as we are, as He loves Him, the only begotten One in His bosom. It is also said that by Him, the Son, "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person;" God made the worlds. Heb. i. (In our translation of the Ist verse, "his Son" is substituted for "the Son.") The same truth is expressed, Col. i. 15-17, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible; whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him. And he is before all things; and by him all things consist." Here the Lord Jesus is declared pre-eminent, because born before all creation; proved by His creating all things. All fulness dwells in Him; fulness of Sonship; fulness of every glory. : 1 Again the Lord Jesus is addressed by the Father as God, because He is THE SON. "Unto the Son, he saith Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever : and, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands. They shall perish; but thou remainest; they all shall wax old doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same; and thy years shall not fail." Heb. i. 8-12, To the Son, He saith, Thou art the same. Thus, incarnation did not create Sonship; b but, the Son was the same from everlasting, is the same now, and shall be for ever. The Son of God was indeed manifested in incarnation: (1st John iii. 8.) and the love of God was manifested towards us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. And we have seen, and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (iv. 9, 14.) The revelation of the Father could only be made by the Son. He declared Him. "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." And the truth of the pre-existence of the Father would be destroyed, were there a doubt as to the eternity of the Son, as Son. In one remarkable text, He is called "the Son of the Father,"-" Grace be with you, mercy and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father." 2nd John 3. And the truth of the eternity of the Sonship is really H the doctrine of Christ: as it is written, "He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son." v. 9. The Lord Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, in His divine eternal relationship to God the Father. When born of the virgin, the name "Son of God" was again given to Him:-"that holy thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." And again, when raised from the dead, God said unto Him, "Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten thee." It is to be observed in the 2nd Psalm, that two words are employed in the original; the one a Hebrew, the other a Chaldee word for Son. "Thou art my Son:" Ben is Hebrew. "Kiss the Son :" Bar is Chaldee. Is not this change made, because the proclamation of the Son, to be worshipped and obeyed, is given to the Babylonish kingdoms of the world, which are described in the image, and the four beasts of Daniel; the princes whereof crucified the Lord of glory? Again this truth of the eternal Godhead of the Son, as the only begotten of the Father, is intimately bound up with the presence and power of the Holy Ghost in the believer. "The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of His Son;" and as such, He teaches us to cry, "Abba, Father;" to use the same words, as the Lord Jesus Himself could use; to know the same love, as the Son Himself knows ; not the love of God to a mere creature; but the love wherewith God loved His Son from everlasting; a love which chose us in Christ, before the foundation of the world; which predestinated us, to be conformed to the image of His Son; and which we shall taste to the full, when that which is in part shall be done away, and that which is perfect shall come. God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh; in our likeness; having predestinated us to be conformed to His likeness. : The Holy Ghost, the spirit of sonship, beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; the inheritance is ours, because we are sons, as the inheritance is Christ's because He is the |