ed by the word of truth" that the law can never with those sacrifices make the comers thereunto perfect. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." The great object in view is taking away sins. And this object is accomplished by the sacrifice which these represented through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." Whatever other ends the kind of worship, prescribed by the Old Testament dispensation of the covenant of grace, may have answered, the principal end, certainly, was the exhibition of the doctrine of the atonement. Moral sacrifices, such as praise, penitence, and prayer, are always due from us to Jehovah; but there is nothing of spirituality naturally connected with the killing of beasts, or the burning of flesh upon an altar.

The external acts of devotion, required of the Hebrews, were well adapted to the minority of the church. A form of worship, greatly symbolical, was appropriate to a very illiterate age; and these symbols were peculiarly adapted to the preservation of the descendants of Abraham from surrounding idolatries. The whole systein continually kept the Israelites in mind of their dependence on God for the fruits of the field and the increase of the fold. But its principal value is its fitness to keep up a lively conviction of the offensive nature of sin, and to prefigure the sacrifice which was offered by Jesus Christ. The bloody victim directed the faith of the heirs of Isaac and Jacob to the atonement of Christ, the promised seed.

The apostles laboured to turn the attention of their cotemporaries to this object. And the hand of the Baptist is the index from the levitical sacriVol. III.-No. II.

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fices to the one which gave them all their efficacy -Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world! The epistle to the Hebrews, throws open the doors of the Levitical tabernacle, and all its rich gospel treasure is exposed to view. Jesus hath an unchangeable priesthood. And every high Priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. Christ through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God. After he had offered one sacrifice for sins, he, for ever, sat down on the right hand of God. Himself the priest, himself the sacrifice, and the sacrifice offered to God for our sins. Is not this ample atonement? It is. Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

4. The satisfaction which the Redeemer made for our offences, is acknowledged in heaven to be complete. Eph. 4. 32. God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you.

Forgiveness of sin, is a covering of its offence against God by the atonement. The satisfaction made by the Redeemer is declared accepted, therefore, when God for Christ's sake grants pardon to the offender. Therefore are they before the throne of God, which have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And he that sitteth upon the throne having issued the proclamation in the sinner's favour, Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom, declares his satisfaction with the sacrifice—a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour unto God. It is impossible it would be otherwise. The dignity of the High Priest-the infinite value of the offering-the declaration on the cross, It is finished-the resurrection from the dead-the glorious exaltation of Messiah

* Heb. 7. 24. & 8. S. & 10. 12. & 22.

-the gifts of the Holy Ghost-the salvation of the sinner-These speak, yes, they declare with an irresistible persuasion, that satisfaction for sin is complete, and that

5. Reconciliation with God is established on the footing of that satisfaction.

Rom. 5. 10. When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. There cannot be given a more certain evidence that atonement is made for an offence, than that reconciliation is fully established between the parties at variance. When the scriptures assure us, therefore, that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, they testify that Christ hath made adequate atonement for our sins. We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.

Shall it be said that the enmity is altogether on our part, and that Jesus Christ died, not to appease the wrath of heaven, but to slay the enmity of the human heart? How could the death of Christ effect this, otherwise than by making atonement for our sins, and so procuring the blessings of sanctification for us? Is it still insisted, that the barriers to a reconciliaton with God are altogether on the side of man, and that Christ came into the world only to remove these barriers. What? was the atonement then made to us in order to reconcile us? Were the sacrifices of the Levitical law offered to man? Was Christ Jesus ordained the High Priest of man? Did he offer the sacrifice to man? Did he pay the ransom to man? Is the scripture phraseology to be reversed, or is its meaning the reverse of its language? Did Jesus offer himself as the sweet-smelling sacrifice to man for the sins of the godhead? And is this the criticism, which shall overturn the doctrine of the atonement? Is this the criticism which shall explain the the scriptures rationally, and consistently,

and without mystery? There is indeed enmity in sinful man against God. Yes: We grant it. Such criticism is evidence of this truth.

The Redeemer having satisfied divine justice by the sacrifice of himself, slays the enmity of our hearts by his gospel, by his grace, by his holy spirit. We are reconciled to God, to his law, to his ordinances, and to this gospel which proclaims salvation through the blood of Jesus-the propitiation for our sins. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: and all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ*.

FOR THE CHRISTIAN's MAGAZINE.

The difference between a Speculative and Practical Knowledge of the Truths of the Gospel; or such as an unconverted man may possess, and that which is attained after experiencing the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit.

THE soul that sinneth it shall die. The death of

the body, and the death of the soul, as far as a soul can die, are the inseparable consequences of disobedience to the law of God. The wages of sin is death. In sinning, the divine image is lost; the principle of spiritual life, by which an intelligent creature is rendered capable of enjoying communion with God and living to his glory, is extinguished, and can never be recovered by the sinner himself. The same almighty power which first bestowed it, must create it anew, or it will be for ever gone. Spiritual death extends to all the faculties of the soul. The understanding is darkened, the will is at enmity against God, and the affections

* 2 Cor. 5. 17, 18.

are attached to improper objects. In this unhappy state, dead in trespasses and sins, every apostate child of Adam continues, and with all his natural and acquired attainments, will remain, until he is born again, and the principle of spiritual life be restored to him. With the most splendid talents and highest improvements, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Whatever difficulties may arise in drawing a discriminating line between the rational powers of the mind, in its ordinary exercises, and those which relate to God and the spiritual life, it is very certain there is an essential difference between them. The express declarations of scripture establish this difference, and it is daily confirmed by observation. Learned men

are not always pious. Nay, among those who have advanced far in science, and acquired great reputation for their extensive researches and vast erudition, are often found the most implacable enemies to both natural and revealed religion. With all their knowledge, they are ignorant of the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal. They have not discovered the spirituality of the divine law, its principle and extent; nor understood the scope of the gospel, the duties it enjoins, and the blessings it reveals. Those who have been effectually called out of darkness, and by renewing and irresistible grace brought into marvellous light, are conscious of this difference, and willing to acknowledge it. But as the greatest number of these were, previous to their conversion, uninstructed in the doctrines of salvation, and had, perhaps, never read the sacred scriptures with attention, the comparative estimate of their former knowledge cannot, by themselves or by others, be accurately ascertained. A