the bond of iniquity, and in the high road to endless perdition; and to reconcile justice with the exercise of this grace, and to open a wide and effectual door for the out-goings of this grace, abounding to the chief of sinners, he provided this end of the law for righteousness-he provided this great High Priest over his household, who should put away sin, by the sacrifice of himself. He hath provided this infinitely precious ransom, to deliver many from going down into the pit, even all the sons and daughters whom he hath ordained from eternity to everlasting glory. Hence the agony and bloody sweat; hence the cross and passion; hence all the sufferings of that baptismal flood upon Calvary's mount, the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness, to which we call your remembrance. Your sins called for this, and the purpose and love of Jehovah provided for this call, with provisions abundant. And if there be a sense of need created in any of you, so that your eyes and your hearts are turned towards a crucified Saviour, as the only hope set before you, this is a distinguishing mercy, which draws you towards him, and gives to you evidence of an inalienable and everlasting interest in this great salvation. The effects of" the offering up once of the body of Jesus Christ," is another particular which calls for attention. By this great event are the sins of all who come unto God by him completely removed from them; so that the sinner and the sins shall never more be seen in union for his condemnation; they are blotted out for ever. As the Spirit in St. Paul saith, with a wonderful emphasis; "His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." It was a task which could not be deputed to angels of the highest order. Gabriel, and all his company, with conjoined effort, could have done nothing at all to remove this load; "His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." And here is the consequence of this remark-full remission of all sins, original and actual procured for the chief of sinners. "We have redemption through his blood, the for giveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Still more, not only free forgiveness of sin, but full justification from it, being now justified by his death, we shall be saved from wrath by him. So that persons who are thus justified, are justified from all things, are accounted righteous, as if they had not done one of the things under the condemnation of which they were once laid. So, I say, they are accounted righteous; the Scripture says, "The righteousness of God in him." And this purification of conscience, and a sense in their own experience of having passed from death to life, of standing in grace with divine favour being ascertained, they have reason to rejoice in hope of the glory of GoD. "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh;"-procured a ceremonial sanctification, that is, that the sinners so purged might come without fear of condemnation into the congregation of the Lord-"how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to GOD, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living GOD?" From all the sins, and the guilt, and the infamies, done in a natural state, while you were dead in your sins, " Purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living GOD." Here again is another effect of "the offering up of the body of Jesus once for all," and that is-access to the throne of grace. You may come when you will, and where you will, to the throne of grace, pour out your hearts before him-tell him of your troubles. I trust there are many here to-night, that look on prayer as the highest privilege in the world. I never like to hear of prayer as a duty. I wonder not at the brevity and frugality of their supplications, when they look on them as a duty. We are even invited to draw near to the throne of grace, "that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Oh, remember it is a part of the favour flowing from the great deed of this day" The offering up of the body of Jesus once for all." 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 a 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." That is, a heart circumcised with the circumcision made without hands; for our hearts, so far from being true by nature, are "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." This true heart is the effect of sovereign love, operating on the elect of GOD, and revealing, to their comfort and edification, their election of God; according to that word "This people have I formed for myself, they shall shew forth my praise." With such a heart, as St. Augustine says, "Give what thou commendest, and commend what thou givest." "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you;" and here the church, reminded of these privileges, is exhorted, "Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith." GOD having given us the promised blessing, a new heart, will not deny us any ulterior blessing. If you and I have any experience of the work of the Holy Ghost in our consciences, we have an evidence in that of a right and title to every promise in the whole book of GoD of a spiritual nature. And then, again, spiritual health and final salvation, follow as effects from "the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." By his stripes we are healed." Now these are the wants of sinners, which are amply supplied by "the offering up of the body of Jesus once for all." And so we are told, that "by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." And these blessings you need, my dear hearers, those of you, especially, who are most unconscious of the want. Peradventure there may be some of this class amongst us this evening; and you are admonished, that neither you, nor any sinners, have evidence of in terest in this blessing, while your hearts are in a state of uncircumcision, fixed on the world. Again, the connection of this offering up of the body of Jesus with sinners is such, as to give perpetual interest to the commemoration of it, to every kindred, and tongue, and people, that they should keep it in everlasting remembrance. It is that effectual and only peace-offering of perpetuity, whereby men are reconciled to GOD; the only atonement whereby the law is satisfied; yea, and magnified, and made honourable; the only deliverance for the guilty and the perishing; and the only road from the damnation of hell; the only meritorious cause of opening the kingdom of heaven, whereby sinners believing on his name, may obtain an inheritance ministered unto them abundantly into glory, and honour, and immortality. We come to you, brethren, with the subject matter of our ministration; and find it all included in the unsearchable riches of Christ. So" he took not on him the nature of angels,”—or "laid not hold of angels,"-but "laid hold of the seed of Abraham:" and "forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." We, therefore, would ever abide by the resolution of the Apostle, as to obtaining mercy of the Lord; to be faithful; "I determine not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." We believe the declaration of this report, and the reception of this truth in love, and the occurrences of the Mount commemorated, and the application by faith of the blood-shedding to your conscience, and your acceptance in this, beloved, of the Father,-all this to be connected with you, as the only ground of hope, the only means of escape from the wrath to come. "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.' I trust that many of you, my brethren, have, | by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, which is promised to the church of GoD in every age, been made sensible of these truths; and that Jesus Christ the crucified is precious to your souls on this account-all your salvation and all your desire. Your individual prayer no doubt is, "That I may win Christ, and be found in him ;" and well it may be so, for "There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." And if now there be acceptance in Christ, if this be the first fruit, what will be the fulness of the benefits of that death which we to-day call to remembrance? What will they have who are in him when the warfare and the temptation of this present trial is closed, and they through much tribulation have entered into the kingdom of GOD, and are made not merely conquerors, but more than conquerors, through him that hath loved them?" "If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him." 66 eleventh verse-" And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." In like manner the offering is viewed as a means of procuring the sanctification itself. Now if we contemplate this sanctification as the setting apart of the Lord's people for his service, as it is written in the first of the Thessalonians, the fifth chapter, and the ninth verse," For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ" as when the elect of GoD are described in Jude, as "sanctified by GoD the Father," set apart (we presume this is the meaning) “ and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called," that is, by the Spirit of grace-if we so esteem the elect of GoD, 66 66 holy and beloved, as vessels of mercy," in whom it is his eternal purpose, that he shall be glorified, in their bodies and spirits, we are taught, then, the connection of this offering with their substitution, by a reference to the ordinance. "For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the In the Second place, I will advert to THE CONNECTION OF THIS EVENT WITH THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD's PEOPLE. The Apostle associates with himself in the address, those whom he had before distinguished in the first verse of the third chapter, as "Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling," those whom he had further addressed, in the four-people according to the law, he took teenth verse," We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." Now such are the terms and expressions, whereby the redeemed from the earth are evidently described; and the application of the terms can only be made to them. And connecting the event which we have noticed, with the sanctification of this people (whatever the terms there may mean), he says "We are sanctified through the body of Jesus Christ once offered for all." Now his object in the context is, to shew the superiority of the antitype above all typical sacrifices-the allsufficiency of the one sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ; and he says, in allusion to the former, to the typical sacrifices, bringing them into comparison with the latter, beginning at the the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people; saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry; and almost all things are by the law purged with blood." Now this was typical of the necessity of the blood of this great offering being applied by faith to the consciences of those who come unto God in the way of Christ Jesus, before they can be accepted with him, either in moral or religious duties, or indeed in any thing formed for attempting to glorify his name. You, beloved, to whom it hath been given to "believe with the heart unto righteousness, and with the mouth to make confession to salva Before, the presentation of this great sacrifice, this work of GOD the Spirit in the church, was connected with the typical dispensation, and in certain prospect of the antitype being accomplished, as it now is, with the antitype himself; and looking to the more abundant outpouring of the same spirit, which was about to grace the church in this dispensation of the ful tion," of Christ before an evil world; you cannot be accepted at any time, or in any exercise, however right and needful before GOD in itself, unless the atoning blood be applied to your consciences; that holding the mystery of faith, in a pure conscience, you may walk before GOD in newness of life. Nothing, we are persuaded, can ever effectually shew the odiousness of sin, nothing more effectually the pol-ness of time, in promise, previous to lution of man's natural conscience, the offering of Jesus. The Holy nothing more entirely the holiness of GOD, than that the whole church must be sprinkled with the blood of Christ in all duty; not only is remission unattainable, but the blood must be applied by faith in Christ; and this | application must be continual, as the blood was to remain on the door-posts of the Israelites' houses, when the destroying angel went through the land of Egypt. Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." Therefore, viewing the offering up of Jesus as preparatory to his glory, and the glory of Jesus as being pre-eminently manifest in the spiritual calling and holy fruits of his people, we may say, concerning the ordinary influence of this converting, and justifying and sanctifying gift, as the Apostle once affirmed of his miraculous gifts, that it flows from the victory of our Lord Jesus, who is at "the received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." Yes, in you, beloved, who are made have received the earnest of a broken and contrite heart, we behold the connection spoken of in my text: with all your sorrows and temptations, and fears, and spiritual conflicts, you are sanctified by the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ once. This is perceived by the very circumstance, that the inward corruption which you once cherished now creates this selfabasement, now causes this shame, now excites this indignation and this inward contention. Are there any sinners in this congregation to-night who have not this precious gift, this gift of GOD, apply-right hand of GoD exalted, and having ing and appropriating the blood of the covenant? You are yet in the guilt of your sins, having the mind and the conscience defiled. Nothing done by you while you are in this unrigh-temples of the Spirit, even in you who teous, this worldly spirit is accepted, or at all acceptable with GOD; because you are contemplated as under the law, and you are transgressors of that law, and there is no peace or acceptance for sinners but in the blood of Christ, but as he flies to him as the covert from the storm. So, on the other hand, we view this sanctification as the whole efficient work of the Spirit, whereby GOD works in his people to will and to do, as much an act of grace wrought in them, as the very atonement on the cross It was not always so; Jesus, who wrought in their nature. It is a mis- was crucified, who is now exalted to take when the term sanctification is the right hand of power, is glorified supposed to stand at all as opposed, or in your spiritual warfare, glorified in as militating against sin the least, or your spiritual conflict, glorified in discordant from the sovereignty of your experimental confession: "When divine grace; I say, we view sancti- I would do good, evil is present with fication as the whole efficient work of me." I find "a law in my members the Spirit, when we find it in con- warring against the law of the spirit." nection with the offering already" I know that in me (that is in my spoken of, as the result of purchased blessings, and the procuring cause for the calling, the increase, the edification, and the holiness, of the people -who are redeemed to God. flesh) dwelleth no good thing;" but blessed be GOD, beloved, that what you have not in yourselves you have in a covenant head. Look always to him, expect much from him, rest entirely on him, walk holily with him, and he will be glorified in your victory also. Yes, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that hath loved us." The last words of the text I have noticed, simply because they are supplementary: they in no way give force to the rendering of the term, "once for all," as opposing this one effectual abolition. They allude to the repealed sacrifices under the law or they may be intended to connect with the vessels of mercy, as understood, the sacrifice made for them, and they include all of whom it is written in their union with their Lord-"We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of GoD should taste death for every man." What is the proper application of these two last words? You learn in the verse immediately following: "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory;" -here is the cause-" to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one:" there is the very meaning “are all of one:" as when it is said, in the beautiful hymn, Te Deum Laudamus, "When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven;" -to whom?" to all believers." Now this comparison of the text shows an application of the term to all them that are sanctified. It suggests a solemn warning to you who are yet sensual. We cannot talk of GOD's purpose concerning any one, save as we read the prayerful indications of those purposes in the character of those persons. We are neither authorized by Scripture, nor by common sense, to take the promises of GOD and apply them to the persons who have written on their characters the marks of their own condemnation; who are sensual, not having the Spirit, which is by the work of faith, by the labour of love, by the patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of GOD and our Father: and by these alone it is that we can come to the conclusion relative to any man that he is elect of GOD. GOD's people are a peculiar people; and while any of you have the spirit of the world, you have great cause to apprehend a part in the final condemnation of the world. In the Third place we notice, THE ACCORDANCY OF THE OFFERING UP OF THE BODY OF JESUS, AND ALSO THE SANCTIFICATION OF HIS PEOPLE, WITH THE WILL OF THE FATHER. It is the peculiar character of Him, who took our nature in all things, except sin, into union with the Godhead (and in this character he gives a goodly specimen of the nature of man as under divine influence, and inclined to the law) that he did all the Father's will, that he did only the Father's will, that it was his meat and drink to do the Father's will. Here is a specimen of human nature under a right influence untainted by the fall. He did the Father's will, only the Father's will, and it was his meat and drink always to do the Father's will; while he learned or taught obedience-shewed obedience. I apprehend the term does not signify, derived knowledge and obedience, as if he learned it from his own precept; but that the term there, “learned,” signifies to communicate learning; and that he shewed obedience by the things which he suffered. So he replied to his disciples, when they wondered at his words, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of." And so when the blood of bulls and goats, though typical of the expiatory sacrifice, would not take away sinwhen the Father would not accept the type for the antitype or save sinners without ample satisfaction to divine justice, the "Righteous servant" of Jeremiah, beholding the work, the temptation, and seeing the cross itself before him, says, " Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me," that is, in the whole Old Testament scriptures, which are to be fulfilled in all things concerning him, "I delight to do thy will, O God:" and, therefore, when he had said, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O GOD; he taketh away the first that he may establish the second." That is, he taketh away the typical or |