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forfeiture of life, and justify the sentence whereby we are condemned to die; explicitly declaring, in the sight of God, angels, and men, that renouncing every other claim, we thankfully accept eternal life, as the gift of God through Jesus Christ; and consent to hold it solely by his right, who died that we might live through him. Amen.

SERMON XXVI.

HEBREWS X. 19,-22.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the

holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; and having an High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

EVERY thinking person, whose mind hath been enlightened to form just apprehensions of God and of himself, will be anxious to obtain a satisfying answer to the following questions :

1. What encouragement hath a sinner to draw near to God? and,

2. After what manner shall he draw near to him, so as to fiod acceptance?

Some, I know, look upon them both as very easy subjects of inquiry. They have such low conceptions of

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And this is the record, that God hath given to us eter. nal life; and this life is in his Son.

You see then, upon the whole, one great end of the holy sacrament of our Lord's Supper, and the use we ought to make of it. Here Christ is represented to us as the propitiation for our sins; “ suffering, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” And we are assured, that in consequence of his obedience unto death, whereby the unchangeable righteousness of God was fully displayed, and infinitely glorified, he is now exalted to the throne, and hath eternal life committed to his disposal, that he may impart it to all who are made willing to receive it as the gift of his Father, through the merit of his blood. Now, it is the express command of God, that we believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ: and it is the no less express declaration of the Son, that he will in no wise cast out such as come unto him. Nay, in this condescending ordinance, he cometh to us; and under the visible symbols of bread and wine, gives himself, with all the fulness of life that dwelleth in him, to every believing soul. What then is the counterpart that belongs to us? Is it not to behold and admire the amazing love of God, that we may be no more faithless, but believing ?-Is it not to do what the Israelite was directed to do, when he brought the appointed sacrifice to the high priest? He laid his band upon the head of the victim; and, confessing his sin over it, acknowledged, that he was dead in law; and that what remained of life was to be held by him purely in virtue of that pardon which God had graciously annexed to the sacrifice. In like manner, let us go to the altar of God; and over the memorials of that infinite sacrifice, chosen and accepted by the Father, in which his own dear Son is both the priest and the victim, let us acknowledge our forfeiture of life, and justify the sentence whereby we are condemned to die; explicitly declaring, in the sight of God, angels, and men, that renouncing every other claim, we thankfully accept eternal life, as the gift of God through Jesus Christ; and consent to hold it solely by his right, who died that we might live through him. Amen.

SERMON XXVI.

HEBREWS X. 19.-22.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the

holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; and having an High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

EVERY thinking person, whose mind hath been enlightened to form just apprehensions of God and of himself, will be anxious to obtain a satisfying answer to the following questions :

1. What encouragement hath a sinner to draw near to God? and,

2. After what manner shall he draw near to him, so as to find acceptance ?

Some, I know, look upon them both as very easy subjects of inquiry. They have such low conceptions of

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the divine purity, and so high an opinion of their own dignity and worth, that they see little, if any occasion al all, for a reconciling Mediator to introduce them into the presence of God. They admit, that repentance for what hath been amiss appears highly reasonable, and perhaps may be necessary ; but when, like men of candour and probity, they have confessed their faults, and humbled themselves so far as to ask forgiveness, and to promise amendment, then, they presume, that God is too generous to require any further reparation; that he will readily pardon what is past, and receive them into favour, as if they had never offended him.

But however such persons may magnify their own foolish imaginations, and arrogantly style them the dictates of reason; yet it might easily be demonstrated, that this scheme is absolutely irrational, and incapable of giving satisfaction to any serious, unprejudiced mind. Nothing can be more obvious, than that the Source of all being deserves the supreme love, and the most perfect unceasing obedience, of the creatures he hath made. This is the true law of nature, that is, a law founded in the pature of God and of man. It is no arbitrary con. stitution, but infinitely fit and reasonable in itself ; and therefore equally incapable either of repeal or abatement; so that, in the language of our shorter catechism, every deviation from it deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come. Nor would it be consistent with the holiness and justice of God, to remit the punishment, and receive the transgressor into favour, without such a public satisfaction to jastice, as may testify his abhorrence of all unrighteousness, and his resolution to support the authority of his law, as effectually as the due unabated punishment of the sinner bimself could do. These are the dictates of sound rea.

son; and therefore all whose minds have been awakened to serious consideration, will be solicitous to know what encouragement they have to draw near to a boly and righteous God; and how they should approach him so as to find acceptance.

Now, to each of these inquiries the passages I have been reading, affords a direct and satisfying answer.

I. IF any shall ask, What warrant or encouragement hath a creature, conscious of guilt, to draw near to a God of unspotted holiness and inflexible justice ?

The Apostle will inform him, that the chief of sinners (for this was the title he assumed to himself, 1 Tim. i. 15.) hath boldness, or (according to the marginal read. ing) liberty to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he, in the character of High Priest over the house of God, hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh, or that human nature in which he suffered, as a propitiatory sacrifice, or sin-offering, in our place.

It will readily occur to you, that all these peculiar forms of expression allude to the instituted means of access to God under the Mosaic dispensation; and it were to be wished, that Christians were better acquainted with that ancient worship than they commonly are; for without some knowledge of this kind, much, I need not say of the beauty and energy of the New Testament language, but even of its true meaning and import, must escape their observation.

The principal service of this day will not permit me to spend so much time as would be necessary for tracing out the several parts of the allusion with perspicui. ty and accuracy: it must at present suffice to give you a general view of the Apostle's reasoning in the foregoing

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