fer the accursed death of the cross.

His being so subjected

thus proclaims in the most determinate accents that the law is holy, just, and good.

The sanctions of the Divine moral government are necessary, as well as its claims. Without these, neither could the displeasure of the supreme moral Governor at the breach of his law be adequately expressed, nor could the subjects of this law ever be deterred from sin. While it is obvious, that to effect these ends they require to be awful, it is equally plain, that the moral Governor himself is alone entitled to determine what shall be thought adequate. This he did by giving forth the appalling declarations, In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die' -'cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them.' the doctrine of atonement, which supposes this curse of the law to be borne by the Son of God himself, surely strikingly demonstrates, that these sanctions, however awful, were nothing more than just, nothing more than necessary; that they were dictated by no little feeling of revenge, founded on no pitiful calculation of expediency, and were utterly incapable of being departed from in any one instance.

But

Thus, the permanent obligation of the requirements and sanctions of the supreme moral government was satisfactorily and for ever established. It appears that these obligations are not to be violated with impunity, nor altered, nor abated in the slightest degree. No abrogation, or abridgment, or modification of them can take place out of respect to man's disinclination, or to what is called human frailty. Though palpably irrational, the heart of man has been wicked enough to conceive this monstrous supposition; and, but for the direct confutation it receives from the vica rious sufferings of the Redeemer, there is reason to fear that the base and pernicious principle would have been extensively adopted. But for these sufferings, on the supposition that man had been saved, it must have gone forth to the moral universe, that the law, though requiring perfect obedience, would be satisfied with less, and though denouncing condemnation on every guilty violator, would permit the perpetrator to escape with impunity. And the consequence of this announcement must have been, to give such a view of the Lawgiver and his law, as could not fail to encourage moral subjects, of every order, to revolt, and embark in the most hardened and extensive rebellion. The

atonement, on the other hand, proclaims the stability of the law and the unflinching rectitude of the Lawgiver. It assures us that the one is not to be insulted, nor the other to be trifled with; that either God must be obeyed, or the consequences of disobedience must be borne; that the throne of the divine moral government is strictly inviolable, and that his rectoral powers are not to be let down to the most presumptuous mortal on earth, or to the most ambitious archfiend in hell. The law is magnified and made honourable. Christ appears to be the end of the law for righteousness. He came not to destroy the law but to fulfil it. And God hath set forth a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness.

III. It affords a demonstration of the exceeding evil of

sin.

That sin could not be pardoned without a satisfaction, and that no satisfaction could suffice but the death of God's own well-beloved Son, are surely demonstrative of the dreadful and malignant nature of moral evil. No proof equal to this was ever given. Abstract reasonings from the infinite excellence and holiness of God, and practical comments on the overthrow of angels, the drowning of the Antediluvians, the burning of Sodom, and the extermination of the Canaanites, must all yield to the affecting scene of Calvary. Even the most profound study of the law itself, to which sin is opposed, could convey no such impression of its deep demerit. The cross is the mirror which reflects the true features and lineaments of moral evil.' It is when looking upon Him whom we have pierced, that we see sin in such light as to induce us to mourn as one mourneth for a firstborn, and to be in bitterness as one that is in bitterness for an only son. Men, in their ignorance and partiality, may · conceive of it as a small matter, and speak of it as a little thing;' they may palliate their offences and plead excuses for them as if they were too light to be noticed, or too trivial to be severely punished. But let them seriously weigh the momentous truth, that Christ died for our sins, that the Son of God had to pour out his soul unto death before a single transgression could be forgiven; let them recall the contradiction of sinners and the fury of devils, the agonies of the garden and the tortures of the cross, the desertion of his friends and the hidings of his Father's face, to which he had to submit before one iniquity could be pardoned, and then say whether sin does not now assume a new cha

racter; whether it does not appear to be an evil and a bitter thing; whether they are not better prepared to appreciate the language in which it is spoken of as 'exceeding sinful' — the abominable thing which God hates.' It is thus that

we learn to entertain right views, and to cherish right feelings, with regard to moral evil. Grief, and shame, and abhorrence can only be inspired by a believing view of this. doctrine; and thus only can those pungent convictions for the past, and those vigorous determinations to resist it in future, be felt, which are the essential characteristics and ingredients of genuine repentance. Nowhere do the tears of godly sorrow flow with such profusion as at the foot of the cross; nor is there another station so well calculated to nerve the penitent with the resolution to say, 'I have done iniquity, I will do so no more.' O, who is there that, living under the habitual influence of the cross of Christ, is not induced to hate sin with a perfect hatred? Who is there, with the sufferings of a crucified Saviour full in his view, that can bring himself to love sin, or roll it as a sweet morsel under his tongue: that is not rather impelled to purify himself from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord?

IV. It infallibly secures the perfect and everlasting salvation of the chosen of God.

This is the grand benevolent purpose of the divine will, whose nature, preparations, and consequences bespeak its transcendent magnitude and importance; and every barrier to which, whether arising from the perfections of Deity, or the principles of the divine government, or the moral corruption of man's nature, has been removed by the blood of

atonement.

Every legal obstruction to the salvation of man is thus taken away. Guilt is atoned; redemption from condemnation is procured; and every demand which the law can prefer against the sinner, whether of requirement or of sanction, is completely answered. 'He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.' 'We have redemption through his blood, even the forgive. ness of sins.' No impediment to the most ample pardon now exists. There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.' Through faith in the atoning death of Emmanuel, those who before could only give vent to the shriek of horror, may now sing in full anthem, 'Thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to

God by thy blood.' And the sinner, who formerly crouched, and trembled in every nerve at the sanctions of the law, may now lift his head in humble confidence, and, bidding defiance to a whole universe of accusation, say, 'Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died.'

The moral obstructions to man's salvation are thus also removed. God's benevolent design embraces sanctification as well as pardon. There must be emancipation from corruption as well as from the curse; an active, vital, and prevailing holiness, as well as forgiveness. Now, Christ gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from ALL iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.' For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.' We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all.' 'Wherefore Jesus, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.' With such passages as these before them, it is wonderful that the doctrine of atonement should ever have been represented by its enemies as hostile to the interests of morality, or that any who profess to believe it should ever have taken occasion from it to indulge in sloth or wallow in licentiousness. The moral influence of the cross is great and direct, through the accompanying power of the Spirit. It restores to the favour of God; lays restraints on the springs of moral corruption; weakens the power of temptation; dissuades from the practice of sin; and furnishes the most powerful motives to sincere, constant, and universal obedience. Its tendency to inspire a hatred of sin has already been remarked. Nor does it supply a less energetic stimulus to the cultivation of personal holiness. The view which it gives of the divine purity, and justice, and love, the demonstration it furnishes of the rectitude and inviolability of the divine law, and the obli gations of gratitude and love under which it brings us, are all directly favourable to the interests of moral obedience. It is even the grand instrument of bringing about a moral regeneration of nature; it being by the influence of this doctrine, that the divine Spirit melts and subdues the adamantine heart of the sinner, and transforms it into the image of Christ.

6

It no less infallibly secures the happiness of man, here and hereafter. The sovereign purpose of God extends to man's deliverance from misery, as well as from guilt and pollution. And, by the sufferings of the Son of God in our stead, was foundation laid for whatever can contribute to his present or eternal felicity. That communion with God, which is the source of all true enjoyment, is to be had only through this medium. Through him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father.' 'Seeing that we have a great high priest, let us come boldly unto the throne of grace.' 'Having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in the full assurance of faith.' Those prayers and praises, by means of which the intercourse with heaven is kept up, are accepted only for the sake of the Angel with the golden censer, who ministers at the golden altar which is before the throne, and out of whose hand the smoke of the incense ascends up before God. It also opens up a well-spring of consolation to the believer, amid the innumerable ills to which he is exposed in this evil world. When burdened with guilt, it' 'purges the conscience from dead works.' When beset with Satan's wiles, it affords him comfort to reflect that, in that the merciful and faithful high priest himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.' When visited with afflictions and trials, he is comforted and upheld with the thought that we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.' When in the arms of death, and the soul about to be dismissed from the body, a believing view of the Son of man standing on the right hand of God, a lamb as if he had been slain,' can enable him calmly to resign himself, in the spirit and language of the proto-martyr, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Nay, when anticipating the day of final account, and conceiving himself to stand before the bar of a righteous God, he can possess himself in patience, seeing he knows that there shall be no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,' and that the blood of the covenant shall secure for him an honourable acquittal, and infallibly protect him from the wrath to come: the tribunal of eternal justice appears to be encircled with the rainbow of mercy, and, instead of the shriek of shuddering horror, he is enabled to give expression to the language of confiding hope and exulting anticipation, Thou wilt show me

6

6