The next title is _King of Peace_—as the author, the preacher, and revealer of all Peace, external, internal, and eternal. This title some have conjectured belonged to some Canaanitish king who reigned in Salem, afterwards called Jerusalem.—But the Apostle tells the Hebrews to regard the meaning of the title, _King of Peace_—though the time of his actual reigning in Jerusalem was not come, nor will it till the latter day glory. At present he is King of Peace, in the Gospel, in the Conscience, and in Mount Zion.—_Without Father_.—The human nature he had assumed at that time, in which he appeared to Abraham, was without Father or Mother, without Descent; for as a Priest, the Apostle is proving the fact, that he had no predecessors or successors, so of course, unlike the tribe of Levi. As God, he was without Father; the divine nature was underived, not begotten. He is the Son of God, in his official capacity, but not in the divine essence. His human nature was without Father—“The Son of Man but no Man’s Son,” _Erskine_.—_Without Mother_. The body, the likeness, the form in which he appeared to Abraham, was without Mother, for it was many years afterwards he was born of the Virgin; and though she had the honour to bear him yet she was purely passive is the act of the formation of his nature. In these same senses he was _without Descent_—he had no predecessors or successors, as God, or as the High Priest of our Profession. Hence he is said to be the first and the last; if so, then there were none before him, and there can be none after him. The objection to this expression is, that it only refers to a want of the knowledge of his Genealogy; but though this might be the case of some persons, or of any, yet they certainly descended from some one. It might as well be argued that because I stand alone, and never heard of any one relation in the world, that I was without descent. But then the Apostle speaks in stronger terms still, and which can only be applied to Divinity itself—_having neither beginning of days_, _nor end of life_: this expression must refer to his Divine Nature. He is himself the beginning, in whom God made all things. In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth; that is, in Christ; he was in the beginning with God, one with him in the council and secret purposes of God; as well as the everlasting God; nor will he ever die as Man any more. As Priest he never did die at all; as God, in his Divine Nature, it is impossible. As the glorious Mediator, he ever lives, and all who are united to him live also.—