the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for ever more.'

It is, besides, the procuring cause and sole security of eternal glory. Through faith in this blessed truth alone can any of our outcast family rejoice in hope of the glory of God.' Heaven is procured, prepared, taken possession of, and retained, by means of the atonement. The blood of the covenant constitutes the title to its possession. The heavenly things themselves are purified with better sacrifices, than those by which the patterns of things in the heavens were purified. We have boldness to enter into the holiest of all only by the blood of Christ, and to the Lamb in the midst of the throne are the redeemed indebted for the permanency of their glory and bliss. Those immortal honours, those glorious hopes, those perennial enjoyments, which are imaged by crowns of glory, palms of victory, harps of gold, and rivers of life, have all their meritorious source in the cross. Heaven has every thing about it to deepen the recollections of Calvary; and, could we conceive a soul suddenly snatched from the foot of the cross to the sanctuary above, it would undergo no violent change of feeling, for it would still breathe the atmosphere and be surrounded with the symbols and memorials of atonement. Yes: the central object of attraction to men and angels is the Lamb in the midst of the throne.' The robes of the redeemed are made white in the blood of the Lamb.' 6 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,' is the burden of the celestial song. And those enlivening, gladdening streams which send forth into the heart an ever-swelling tide of unmingled bliss, 'proceed out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.' 'Not one thought in the crowd of eternal ideas, not one note in the compass of eternal anthems, not one moment in the round of eternal ages, can there be, but refers to Christ crucified. Heaven is no place for flight from the recollections of Calvary! It is filled with the apparatus and monuments of atonement! Its atmosphere is brightened by it-redolent of it-vocal with it.'

·

V. By the atonement, a way is opened up for the honourable egress of divine mercy in the bestowment of salvation; sinners have ample encouragement to rely on this mercy; and foundation is laid for every pious emotion in the breasts of saints.

The exercise of mercy in consistency with the claims of

justice, is the perplexing problem which only the doctrine of atonement solves. To the flow of the former the demands of the latter seem to present insuperable barriers. These demands must be satisfied, and, if satisfied in those on whom they primarily take hold, the way of mercy is necessarily shut up.

'Die man, or justice must, unless for him

Some other, able, or as willing, pay

The rigid satisfaction, death for death.'

·

It was the revelation of the all-momentous fact of Christ's atoning death, that enabled the gifted poet to hint even at this method of extrication from the above dilemma. Nought else could supply a reconciling principle. No tears of penitence however copious, no prayers however fervent, no good works however sincere, could warrant a just God' to justify the ungodly.' The sufferings of Christ solve the difficulty; by these every obstruction to the consistent exercise of mercy is removed; the stream of the Lord's blood has opened up a channel in which full, free, and abundant grace might flow unobstructedly and for ever to the very chief of sinners. 'God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing unto men their trespasses.' Not only is this the way by which God has seen meet to make an harmonious display of the perfections of his nature, but it may even, without presumption, be affirmed to be the only method by which he could do so. It is not, indeed, for us to limit the Mighty One, whose understanding is infinite. Yet, considering the constitution of things, and the peculiarity of the case, we may safely affirm, that the method which he has adopted is the best that could have been adopted; and, as it is impossible that a Being infinitely wise can do other than what is best, it follows that it was the only plan which even divine wisdom could employ. The necessity, be it observed, which is here supposed, is a moral necessity; and, in asserting that God could not save men otherwise than by the atonement of his Son, we no more impeach the perfection of his nature, than when we say that he cannot lie, cannot love sin, cannot contradict himself: we just affirm that he cannot but do what is best.

By the atonement every encouragement is held out to sinners to rely on the divine mercy in Christ for salvation. If the view which it exhibits of the rigours of justice and the inviolability of the law are fit to cause the sinner medi

tate terror,' the view which it, at the same time, gives of the greatness of God's mercy and of his willingness to save to the uttermost cannot but awaken hope. If God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, will he refuse to receive such as come to him humbly soliciting pardon? The gift of his own Son is such a demonstration of his merciful design that no sinner need despair; and the merits of Jesus Christ, the intrinsic worth and sufficiency of his sacrifice, are sufficient to inspire the hope of forgiveness, even should our sins be in number as the sand of the sea, and in aggravation as crimson and scarlet. It is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, even the chief.' 'He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.' No degree of guilt can exceed the worth, no depth of pollution surpass the cleansing virtue, of the Saviour's blood. To the timid, the conscience-stricken, the heavy-laden, the bowed down, he says, 'Come unto me, and I will give you rest.' And even should the whole head be sick and the whole heart faint, and from the sole of the foot even unto the crown of the head there be no soundness,' his call is still, 'Come now and let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' Unbelief and despair are thus totally without

excuse.

As the atonement is the hope of sinners, so is it also the source of every pious emotion in the breasts of saints. It is the very object of faith, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.' It is the spring of repentance; they shall look on me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn.' The wisdom it displays, the amazing love it discloses, and the mighty power which it exhibits, are all fitted to fill the bosom with adoring wonder. Gratitude, the strongest gratitude, is awakened by a view of the magnitude of the blessings with which it is fraught, and the sacrifices which required to be made in order to secure them. Who that thinks of the Son of God, who, being in the form of God, and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God, yet made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross;—who, that remembers that, though rich,

for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich, but must feel impelled to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of his lips, giving thanks to his name?'-It is eminently fitted to warm the heart with love. We must love him who has so loved us as to give himself a ransom for our sins. Cold must be that heart, obtuse must be those affections, which are not kindled into an irrepressible glow by the atonement of Christ. The love of Christ must constrain all who rightly understand this subject, to love him in return. 'Whom having not seen we love,' expresses the spontaneous feeling of every saint. No believer but will be willing to say, 'Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.' This is indeed the test of personal Christianity. 'If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha.' 'Love the Lord, all ye his saints.' How is it possible to come under the ardent rays of this burning love, and not feel induced to reflect its beams in kindred and reciprocal emotion! How is it possible for a gracious soul to treat love so dignified with neglect, love so free with ingratitude, love so productive with contempt, love so ardent with indifference, love so constant with even wavering affection!

Nor can any thing be conceived better calculated to produce true humility, than the doctrine that man is utterly incapable of saving himself, and that such were his guilt, and corruption, and misery, that less could not suffice for his escape than the awful sufferings of the Son of God. Oh, who that duly considers this but must be deeply humbled and self-abased! What better fitted to stain the pride of human glory, and to fill with all lowliness of mind! The man who firmly believes and cordially embraces this truth, must see himself to be nothing, yea, and less than nothing. Self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, self-complacency, self-dependence, can never be made to comport with Christ's having given himself a ransom for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.

It is no way at variance with this, that the doctrine should be viewed as calculated to fill the soul with hope, and joy, and exulting triumph. No limits can be set to the rapturous gladness which it is its native tendency to inspire. In the lowest depth of his humiliation, the believing soul, looking forward to the blessings, and anticipating the triumphs the cross of Christ is destined to secure,

6

rejoices in hope of the glory of God. Seeing in it every reason for the highest moral delight and complacency, and feeling that all besides is nothing in comparison, he takes up the passionate yet dignified avowal, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.' VI. The atonement more or less affects all the divine dispensations toward our world.

6

:

Even the creation of the world, there is every reason to believe, was with the view of its being a theatre on which to exhibit the work of man's redemption by the eternal Son. It is the workmanship of his hand. This is the purpose which it serves; and that it was framed with a view to its serving its purpose is surely no disputable assertion. Difficulties connected with that profound mystery, the origin of moral evil, may encumber this statement. But we are not bound to remove every difficulty from such a subject before being entitled to demand for it the assent of the mind. The apostle, in express terms, not only claims for Christ the honour of the world's creation, but asserts the purpose of its creation to terminate in Him :All things were created by him, and FOR him.' He is the final as well as the efficient cause of this world's creation. Our earth was selected as the chosen spot on which the mystery of redemption was to be displayed; and all the scenes of the mediatorial economy were here exhibited. The advent of the promised Messiah took place here; here was led his instructive life; here were wrought his wondrous miracles; here were spoken his still more wondrous addresses; here were borne his mysterious sufferings; here was accomplished his awful decease; and here were achieved his glorious victories over men and devils, over sin and death. This is indeed the glory of our world. That it was the abode of Christ and the scene of redemption, throws over it a surpassing lustre, imparts to it a matchless honour. 'It is the glory of the world that he who formed it dwelt in it; of the air, that he breathed it; of the sun, that it shone on him; of the ground, that it bore him; of the sea, that he walked on it; of the elements, that they nourished him; of the waters, that they refreshed him: of us men, that he lived and died among us, yea, that he lived and died for us.'* Yes; and we may add, had it only been that it was stained with his blood, it was honoured by him beyond all human conception. It is through the

218

* McLaurin.