great facrifice upon the crofs; Atonement was made in every one of them by blood. For the Law could never with thofe fa- Hebr. x.1. crifices which they offered make the comers thereunto perfect. The Law feems to have been fenfible, as it were, itself, of the incompleteness of it's own work. The facrifice for fin, in the regular course, preceded the rest: it was prefented, and flain. But the worshippers were not fo thoroughly purified, as not to want ftill further purgation. After the offering for fin, the burnt offering next muft yield it's blood, not only to be fhed, but to be fprinkled upon the altar: and this offering is exprefsly faid to make atonement. He fhall put his Levit. i. 4, hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement. And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord, and the priests shall bring the blood, 5. 8, &c. זבת blood, and fprinkle the blood round about upon the altar. Nay, the fame ceremony, and for the fame purpose, was ftill to be repeated in Levit.xvii. the facrifices of peace offerings. Whatsoever man there be that offereth a burnt offering, or facrifice, (that is a peace offering) and bring it not unto the door of the tabernacle to offer it unto the Lord, that man fhall be cut off. And whatfoeverman eateth any manner of blood, I will fet my face against that foul that eateth blood, and will cut him off. For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your fouls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the foul. Rom. vi, 23. Mark i. 15. The wages of fin is death. Repent, and believe the Gospel, and the death of the facrifice becomes the life of the fin ner. But But this is Judaifm. It is what God hath been pleased to make it. The religion of the Jews is not to be utterly forgotten the fabrick of Chrift's religion refts upon it. He came not to defroy Matth. v. the Law, but fulfil. But you fee no reafon in fuch an inftitution. We preach Christ crucified; unto the Jews a ftumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness: but the foolishness of God is wifer than men. Yes, you can find wisdom in Christianity, when it is explained properly. Christ came to give leffons in moral virtue; and died to teach men patience. What virtues were taught by all the facrifices in the law of Mofes? what example was fet by thofe fufferings? Alas! though the offerer might be guilty, the victim was innocent. And could this be right, according to your rules of reaVOL. II. fon? A a 17. I Cor. i. 23,25. fon? Should not the guilty fuffer, and the innocent be unpunished? What crime had the Lamb committed, that it's blood fhould be fhed at God's altar? Or which way could the finner be the better for it? Is there any efficacy, comprehenfible by human reason, in the blood of a beast to wash away the guilt of a man? You will think of a fuitable answer on your part; for to us it is sufficient, that God fo ordered it. Till Chrift came, this figure of his death was effectual by God's appointment. It was his pleasure; and his will is a reason. He hath faid it, and we are fatisfied. The life is in the blood, xvii. II. and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your fouls: for it is the Luke blood that maketh an atonement for the foul. Hebr. ix. And again by the Apostle, without shedding of blood is no remission. 22. We fee therefore no neceffity to have recourse to metaphors on this occafion. The The facrifices commanded in Leviticus were furely not metaphorical: and the efficacy of them in the expiation of fin, to say the least, is as hard to comprehend as that of the death of Christ. It remains therefore entirely credible that the death of our Lord was a Sacrifice to Almighty God, making atonement for the fins of the world. It was typically represented by all the facrifices of the Jews, but most eminently by the facrifices for fin; and among them with the most elaborate folemnity by the annual fin offering made for the whole nation. II, 12. It is but a very little way that the understanding of man, while he is here on earth, is able to advance in the knowledge of heavenly things. The fufferings 1 Pet. i. of Chrift, and the glory to follow, the preaching of the Gofpel, with the Holy Ghost fent down from heaven, are things which the Angels defire to look into. The conceit, that on fubjects fo awful, or on any fubjects, nothing A a 2 |