into their hearts, with what joy would they have crowded to the presence of that Redeemer, who came to fulfil these long promised, but unhappily, much mistaken mercies. Had the Jew, who ate his passover with psalms of thanksgiving, understood the true nature of the solemn service he was in the habit of performing, how would he have rejoiced in the coming of that paschal Lamb of God, who was to take away the sins of the world. How would his heart within him have blessed God for his mercies, in having permitted him to see that day, the distant prospect even of which, had filled his father Abraham's breast with gladness! Happy, indeed, is that Christian, to whom the tidings of salvation are tidings of great joy. They were alas! to the Jews a stumblingblock, and they are so to many an unbeliever now. And yet, as surely as God's word is true, so surely is there none other name under heaven by which we may be saved, but that of Jesus Christ. Search the sacred revelations of God's unchanging will, and you will no where find forgiveness promised, except through the blood of the Redeemer. Man in his miserable vanity and presumption, may devise other schemes of salvation, other means of propitiating heaven; but God knows of none. Man may give his wretched sophistry the name of wisdom and superior discernment, but God will laugh his subtleties

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to scorn, and wither to the dust, the short-lived vanity of the worm who dared to mock his truth.

We need not look beyond this epistle, for testimony the most positive and ample to this precious doctrine. Turn to the 10th chapter, and you will find the following passage, “By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 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." And again, in the 9th chapter, we read, "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." Here then we have the declaration of our text fully confirmed and illustrated. Here is that corner-stone of the gospel, that rock of the sinner's hope, placed full in view before him. It is the blood of Christ alone which cleanseth us from sin. We ourselves have no part nor share in our own purification; we cannot wipe away even the smallest spot of guilt which clings to our souls. Our redemption is the free gift of God, most undeserved by us, and too often most impiously refused. Yes, my brethren, it is a solemn though a melancholy certainty, that every man who does not accept with gladness these only means of salvation; who hopes for

other mercy hereafter, than that which Christ has purchased for him; wilfully shuts himself out from the courts of heaven, and speaks peace to his soul, when there is neither peace nor rest for ever. That there are many who expect to live hereafter with the spirits of the just, and yet despise, or what is equally dangerous, neglect “the blood of Jesus," is a truth which cannot be denied. And there is too, a mistaken spirit abroad, falsely called a spirit of charity, which would refrain from setting before these men the fatal error into which they have fallen. But he is the truest friend, who will pluck his brother from the pit of destruction, even though he grasp him rudely; rather than let him sink in the gulf, lest haply he should bruise, in endeavouring to save him.

Beware then, my brethren, how you reject the only offers of salvation which will ever be set before you. There is a heaven above, and a hell beneath you. You do not like perhaps to hear the sound of this latter word, you think we ought not to address you in such plain and unvarnished language. Bear with me, however, for a moment, and then judge whether you should not keep the one in mind to avoid its terrors, as well as the other to inherit its blessings. You are all of you, aye, every soul, the wisest or the weakest-the highest or the lowest-the richest or the poorest -the children of sin; and, as such, the heirs of

misery and death. But the justice of God has been satisfied, and his mercy propitiated, by the blood of a crucified Redeemer. This is the doctrine and the language of all Scripture. It is the very thing prefigured in the whole array of Mosaic sacrifice, it is the truth taught by the prophets, it is the foundation-stone of the fabric of the gospel. Now it is by faith in the merits of this all-sufficient atonement, that we shall become partakers in the benefits it was designed to convey. Let me again refer you to the epistle to the Hebrews. Read diligently the long list of saints, who, in the emphatic language of the apostle, "through faith subdued kingdoms;" and then turn to the commencement of the succeeding chapter, and hear him exhorting all to "lay aside the sin which doth so easily beset them, to run with patience the race that is set before them, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of their faith." Read this attentively and seriously, and then say, where they will be found in the day of judgment, who build their hopes of mercy upon their own righteousness, and count the blood of the covenant an unholy, or a useless thing. What will remain for those, who thus crucify the son of God afresh, and put him to open shame; who, like the impenitent and unbelieving Jews, come to the Saviour's cross, but to mock and to ridicule the victim fastened there?

St. Paul shall tell you, "He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

If then, my brethren, ye desire to avoid the everlasting wrath of God; if ye think that eternal happiness is preferable to endless misery; there is one way, and but one, by which ye can hope to become sharers in this joy. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin ;" and by it must you be sprinkled, ere your sin can be forgiven, or your unrighteousness covered. On this atonement must your hopes be placed. St. Paul tells you in the 3rd chapter of his epistle to the Romans, that God hath set forth Jesus Christ" to be a propitiation through faith in his blood." Be strong then in this faith. Let it rule entirely in your hearts; let it influence your conduct at all times and in all seasons; make it the anchor of your hopes sure and stedfast. The sins you have already committed you can of yourselves neither