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Lord God of Israel, there will also be found many evil things. Oh let us be humbled under a sense of our depravity! We have all something in us that takes part with Satan against God. But it was not so with our blessed Saviour: "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." He had no weak or unguarded part belonging to him; no sinful propensity, no guilt; nothing to furnish the enemy with matter of accusation, and no corruption to give him advantage in his temptations. His sparks would not kindle, for there was no tinder : his fiery darts must retort as from a rock of adamant. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. The unspotted purity of Christ's nature was owing to the following things, all of which were peculiar to himself

1. His miraculous conception. He was born, but not begotten; made of a woman, and made flesh, but not in the ordinary way. He partook of our nature, and became man, but did not inherit any of our depravity. He was conceived, but not in sin; and was fashioned according to a man, but not shapen in iniquity. He was in the likeness of sinful flesh, but that was all; for he himself knew no sin. His conduct was inoffensive, and his nature undefiled: he neither brought pollution into the world, nor contracted any during his stay in it. He was a Lamb without blemish, and without spot: he was manifested to take away sin, but in him was no sin. Hence when the tempter came, he could find nothing in him. 1 John iii. 5.

2. He was filled with the Spirit, and all the graces were in full maturity. Holiness prevails in us according to the degree in which we are influenced by the Spirit of God; but it was given to him without measure, and he was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. Every thought, word, and action was under a divine direction, and the wicked

one touched him not. The avenues of his soul were so guarded that no evil could find access, and no weapon that was formed against him could prosper.

3. As the Son of God he was possessed of a divine nature, and therefore originally and essentially holy, even as the Father himself is holy. He not only possessed all created excellencies, but all divine perfections; and the absolute purity of his nature was essential to his true and original character. Satan could find nothing in him, could make no impression upon him, but was and must be foiled and defeated in every encounter. sometimes see how great a matter a little fire kindleth, and it is the policy of the enemy to make much out of a little; but here was nothing at all that he could work upon, and therefore all his labour would be in vain.

We

(1.) This subject may teach us to entertain low thoughts of ourselves. Oh how much does Satan find in us, and how easily do his temptations fasten upon us! When the prince of this world cometh, he finds that in us which would give him power to accomplish our utter ruin, if grace did not prevent. Let us therefore never enter into the combat: all our safety lies in fleeing from it.

(2.) Let it teach us to cherish high and adoring thoughts of Christ. He fought and conquered he spoiled principalities and powers, and made a shew of them openly. All our salvation and all our hopes depended upon this triumph: that salvation is now obtained, and those hopes shall be fully realized. Now unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

The danger of Apostasy.

SERMON IX.

HEB. X. 26.

There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.

To many a disconsolate soul, overwhelmed with guilt, and awful apprehensions of divine displeasure, these words have been like a message of death: they have from hence concluded that their case was desperate, and that they were for ever excluded from all hope of salvation. And some indeed, in the early ages, thought themselves warranted from this and similar passages, to exclude for ever from their commu nion those who had fallen into any open sin after baptism, whatever proofs they might afterwards give of true repentance. But all this is going beyond what is written. The design of the apostle is to warn the Hebrews, and to warn us, of the danger of apostasy; but not to exclude the penitent from hope. "If we sin wilfully (says he) after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries."

In order to understand the passage, let us notice the following particulars

1. The apostle is not here speaking of the common infirmities which may attend the godly, but of

wilful transgressions; or as David calls them, " presumptuous sins," from which he prayed to be delivered. (Psal. xix. 13.) To "sin wilfully" is to sin with premeditation and design; not through any sudden temptation, so as to be taken unawares, as Peter was; but watching for an opportunity, and laying schemes for the accomplishment of a wicked purpose, like Judas; "making provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." To sin wilfully is also to sin resolutely, without present reluctance or after relentings; being neither restrained by present difficulties, nor terrified by future consequences. Such was the conduct of some in Jeremiah's time, who said, As for the word which thou hast spoken untą us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee; but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth. Jer. xliv. 16, 17.

2. Neither are sins of ignorance intended, but such as are against light and strong conviction. To sin against knowledge is one of the greatest aggravations, and that which leads on to perdition. The apostle, when describing such as are filled with all unrighteousness, says, "Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." (Rom. i. 32.) By the knowledge of the truth however, mentioned in the text, appears to be meant that general acquaintance with the gospel, or the way of salvation by Christ, which is common to those who attend upon or profess the gospel, and not that which is special to such as are spiritually enlightened, and who are said to have received the love of the truth, as well as the knowledge of it, that they might be saved. The word here rendered knowledge also signifies an acknowledgment: so that the persons warned were not only such as had been made acquainted with the truth, but appear to have made a profession of it;

and therefore by sinning wilfully against such light they had not only violated their own consciences, but brought a reproach upon the cause, and were in danger of total apostasy. But whatever light they might have received, they had never felt the power of the gospel. Those who buy the truth will not sell it at any price.

3. The text speaks not of sins in general, though knowingly and presumptuously committed, but of some sin in particular, and such as excludes from the hope of salvation. Now this appears to be no other than an absolute and entire rejection of the truth which had been professedly received; and this is called a treading under foot the Son of God, and counting the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and doing despite unto the Spirit of grace. (ver. 29.) This is not a mere defection from duty, as in the case of a backslider; but an apostasy from truth, from the truth of the gospel; a renunciation of the only ground of a sinner's hopethe sacrifice of atonement offered by the Son of God. It is not a mere departure from some important doctrines of the gospel, as was the case with some of the Corinthians and Galatians, and others among the churches in Asia, but from that which is essential to the gospel, and to a sinner's acceptance with God. It not merely mars the edifice, but subverts the foundation of faith. Neither is it a rejection of the gospel only, or the way of salvation by the sacrifice of Christ it is a doing this with contempt, against the clearest light and evidence to the contrary-a treading under foot the Son of God, counting the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, doing despite to the Spirit of grace, and thus sinning wilfully after having received the knowledge of the truth. Peter also tells us that those who deny the Lord that bought them, bring upon themselves swift destruction. Those who cast the Son of God from his throne must ex

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