strengthens his feeble efforts;—it is then, that he feels the full force of those consoling words "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

Let me, then, exhort you, my beloved, whatever your condition be,-you, who, because you have not openly and wilfully transgressed the commands of God, therefore perhaps hug yourselves with the delusive assurance, that you are righteous above your fellows, and that you need no renewing in the spirit, no uncommon mercy to be extended towards you on the part of heaven-to arise and repent," that Christ may give you life;" and you too, who are living in the constant habit of unblushingly violating the laws of God, who profane his Sabbaths, despise his holy ordinances, and deride the precepts of his Gospel,-you especially, do I intreat to rouse yourselves from your vain and sinful slumbers; to" cast off the works of darkness, to put on the whole armour of light," and to enrol yourselves at once, and for ever, as the true and faithful soldiers and servants of Jesus Christ. Delay not, I conjure you, a moment longer to begin

1 2 Cor. xii. 9.

K

that work, in which you ought to have been engaged every day, every hour of your past Kres. Defer it not to a more convenient season ;” but “ work while it is day, for the night cometh in which no man can work." For "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

In the language of the heavenly messenger, who was sent to rescue Lot and his family from the destruction that awaited the devoted cities of old, I bid you “escape to the mountain ;” flee to Christ the rock of your salvation; " escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain !." Turn not back, even to bid adieu to the wicked ways you have left: linger not to say farewell to the darling sin which once so "easily beset you." Earnestly implore the aid of God's special grace to speed you on your journey. For although “the spirit” may be “willing, the flesh is weak ;" and you need every assistance from above, to contend, with any hope of success, against your spiritual enemies. You require to be fortified with the whole panoply of heaven, to wear "the helmet of salvation;" to be girt

1 Gen. xix. 17.

66

about with "the sword of the Spirit." You need this defence to shield you against the combined powers of darkness, to enable you in the strength of the Lord, to " go forth conquering, and to conquer 1," that "so an entrance may be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2."

1 Rev. vi. 2.

2

2 Pet. i. 11.

SERMON IX.

GOOD FRIDAY.

REMISSION OF SIN THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE ATONEMENT.

HEBREWS ix. 22.

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood: and without shedding of blood is no remission."

No sooner had Adam transgressed the commandment of heaven, and thereby entailed on his posterity a corrupt and vicious nature; and not only that, but death eternal,-the consequence of sin; than divine wisdom conceived a method for redeeming man from the awful penalty he was doomed to pay. This was no less than the incarnation and sacrifice of the only-begotten Son of God; and although it did not agree with the divine purpose, that he should immediately become the victim; yet still was he "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

We find in the Bible history, that the Almighty

was pleased to institute the rite of sacrifice; and whilst he graciously vouchsafed to accept it, as a kind of atonement for actual transgression, he at the same time intended that it should have reference to, and be typical of, that one great sacrifice, which was in due time to be offered up for the sins of the whole world. Immediately after the fall, we find, that "Cain brought the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord'," and that it was not accepted; but that his brother likewise "brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof; and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering"." We read, that righteous Noah, on coming out of the ark, "builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar 3."

3

Hence it appears that, from the very earliest period, mankind were accustomed to offer sacrifices to God. Besides the various instances, recorded in the Bible, of such means being employed to satisfy the displeasure of the Deity, we meet with several scriptural characters, who, in themselves, were decidedly types of a crucified

1 Gen. iv. 3.

2 Ibid. iv. 4.

3 Ibid. viii. 20.