"blood of the lamb sprinkled on the door "posts being the appointed means of pre"servation, by Jehovah's passing over. In "confirmation, also, of the typical nature "of this ceremony, we may notice a very "extraordinary passage quoted by Justin

tr

Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho, from "the ancient copies of the Bible; in which "Ezra expounds, in a speech made before "the celebration of the passover, the mystery of it as clearly relating to Christ; " and which Justin concludes was at a very

early period expunged from the Hebrew "copies by the Jews, as too manifestly fa"vouring the cause of Christianity. The pas

sage is this: This passover,' saith Ezra to "the people,' is our Saviour and refuge; and "if you can feel a firm persuasion, that we are about to humble ourselves, and desire "him in this sign, and afterwards should "place our sure trust and hope in him, then "this place shall never be made desolate, "saith the Lord of Hosts: but if you do not "believe in him, nor listen to that which he "shall announce, ye shall be a derision to "all nations".""

t Magee on the Atonement, vol. 1. p. 304–307.

Allix, in his judgment of the Jewish Church, says, that

Scripture supplies us with decisive testimonies, that the paschal lamb was a type of Christ. The beloved disciple, in his Gospel", directly asserts it, by applying to Christ on the cross the fulfilment of the declaration concerning the Lamb; "A bone of him "shall not be broken." The apostle Paul says, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for « us*;" thus calling the type, and the thing signified by the same name: and the Redeemer himself seems to teach the same doctrine, in his institution of the Lord's Supper".

With this information concerning the typical nature of the passover, let us pass on to make such a use of the text as is suitable to the solemnities of this day.

The passover, and the sprinkling of blood, which Moses kept, exhibited the great sacrifice which Christ offered up, once for all, for sin. The deliverance which accompanied the keeping of this passover, and the

when John the Baptist speaks of the Lamb which takes away the sins of the world, the type of the paschal lamb i3 alluded to, and that this appears the more clearly, from two things taught amongst the Jews: 1. That the Shechinah, or visible glory of Jehovah, delivered Israel out of Egypt; 2. That the Shechinah was typified by the paschal lamb. Magee, Vol. i. No. 35.

u John xix. 36.

x 1 Cor. v. 7. y Matt, xxvi. 26.

Is

sprinkling of blood, typified the great deliverance of sinners from death, through the blood of the everlasting Covenant. Every thing belonging to the Legal dispensation, was a shadow of good things to come. rael prefigured the company of the elect, redeemed by the death of Christ; Israel's freedom from Egyptian bondage, the freedom of God's elect from the 'dominion of Satan; the blood of the paschal lamb, the blood of the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world; the sprinkling of the blood of the paschal lamb, the application of the blood of Christ by the Spirit to the hearts and consciences of sinners; the taking of a branch of hyssop to dip in the blood of the lamb, the exercise of faith in the atonement of Christ, and all the blessings which are connected with him and his work.

All that was thus typified by the keeping of the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, is signified in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. The latter holds the same place under the Gospel, which the former did under the Law. As the blood of the everlasting Covenant which was typified by the

over.

former, has actually been shed as a sacrifice for the remission of sins, so the latter signifies that sacrifice of blood, offered once for all, by emblems of a nourishing, refreshing kind-emblems suited to its nature as an Eucharistic feast, consequent upon a sacrifice. The broken bread, and the wine poured out, represent the same Lamb of God, slain for sin, who was typified in the passAnd as then the blood of the lamb could only save by its being sprinkled upon the door posts, so now the blood of the Lamb of God must be sprinkled upon the hearts and consciences of sinners, to procure their salvation. The mere participation of the bread and wine will no more procure exemption from the curse, than the mere eating of the paschal lamb could protect the Israelites from judgment. The thing signified by the lamb in the one case, and the bread in the other, must be possessed and enjoyed. The typical possession was the sprinkling of the blood; the real possession, is the participation by faith of the righteousness wrought out by the shedding of this blood.

To this righteousness, received by faith, the Lord's Supper directs our attention. And all who by faith partake of it, will be protected from all such dangers, present and future, as threaten their salvation. Not that the Lord's Supper, any more than the passover, possesses an inherent virtue. It is the thing signified, the broken body and the poured out blood, apprehended by faith, that is relied upon, or trusted to, as sufficient for our salvation, and that protects. In this ordinance, as in that, Christ is exhibited as the Redeemer, who once in the end of the world hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Both represent him as the " propitiation for sin, through faith in "his blood." Both direct to his obedience and death, as the meritorious cause of salvation; and both encourage faith and strengthen hope, by affecting views of the compassion and veracity of God, as also of the consummation of blessedness which is provided for all the followers of Christ, by the compassion of God, and secured by his veracity. Let us, then,

Secondly, Make such an application of the text, as is suitable to this occasion.