Leave me to myself; at least leave me till many more suns and showers have brought me to a maturity better suited to your use.' But no, my young Brethren; I would not leave you another day. God has appointed that the green ears be dried by the fire, and so be fitted for his use: and gladly would I use all possible means to qualify you for the honour to which he calls you: nor can I doubt but that, if you be willing, you shall be accepted of him. And think, I pray you, of the advantage of being consecrated to the Lord in early life: think how many sins you will avoid think what an advance you may hope to have made in the divine life, whilst others are only beginning their Christian course. Above all, think what an honour it will be to serve the Lord; and what happiness to be regarded by him as his peculiar people. O, let me not speak in vain: but now vie, as it were, with each other, who shall be foremost in this blessed race, and who shall consecrate himself to God at the earliest period of his life. Happy am I to assure you, that the oil and frankincense are ready, and that the fire is already kindled on God's altar. Only be willing to be the Lord's, and this very hour shall your offering come up with acceptance before him.]

2. Those who are more advanced in life

[If the green ears be sought for the Lord, surely you can have no doubt respecting the proper destination of those that are more matured. Affect, then, the honour which is now offered you, of being the Lord's. And remember, that, as a part only of the offering was consumed upon the altar, and the rest was given to the priests for their subsistence, so must ye gladly give yourselves to the Lord for the advancement of his glory, and the establishment of his kingdom in the world. It is for this that so many suns have shone upon you, and so many showers have been vouchsafed: and know, that in giving to God, ye give only what ye have received from him; and that, instead of conferring any obligation upon him, the more you do for him, the more you are indebted to him. Yes, know, that if the honour to which we call you were duly appreciated, there is not an ear in the whole field of nature that would not be anxious to attain it. May the meat-offerings, then, this day be multiplied on God's altar; and his name be increasingly glorified amongst us, for Christ's sake! Amen and Amen.]

CXXIII.

THE SIN AND TRESPASS-OFFERINGS COMPARED.

Lev. v. 5, 6. And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that

thing. And he shall bring his trespass-offering unto the Lord for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb, or a kid of the goats, for a sin-offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.

IN the words before us, the terms "sin-offering." and "trespass-offering" are used as signifying precisely the same thing: and in the 11th and 12th verses the trespass-offering is thrice mentioned as "a sin-offering." But they are certainly two different kinds of offering; though learned men are by no means agreed respecting the precise marks of difference between them. Indeed, almost all who have undertaken to explain them, confess, that they are not satisfied with what others have written upon the subject. The difficulty seems to lie in this; that the sin-offering seems to have respect to a lighter species of sin, and yet to require the more solemn offering; whilst the trespass-offering relates to considerably heavier offences, and yet admits of an easier method of obtaining forgiveness: for in the trespass-offering, pigeons or turtle-doves might be offered, or, in case of extreme poverty, a measure (about five pints) of flour: but in the sin-offering no such abatement, no such commutation, was allowed. This leads many (contrary to the plain letter of the Scripture) to represent the sin-offering as relating to the lighter, and the trespass-offering to the heavier, transgressions. But we apprehend that sufficient stress has not been laid on some peculiarities respecting the trespassoffering, which give by far the most satisfactory solution to the difficulties that occur in it. As for those things which the sin-offering has in common with the burnt-offerings or peace-offerings, we forbear to touch upon them, they having been already noticed. in our discourses on those subjects: nor shall we enter very fully into the trespass-offering, because that is reserved for a future occasion. We shall contract our present discussion into as short limits as possible, by omitting all that would lead us over ground already trodden, and fixing our attention on those few

a See Discourse on Lev. v. 17-19.

points, which will mark the peculiar features of these offerings, together with their distinctive differences. We will,

I. Compare them together

They agree in many things, each requiring that the blood of an animal should be shed and sprinkled as an atonement for sin. But they also differ very materially,

1. In the occasions on which they were offered—

[The sin-offerings were evidently presented on account of something done amiss through ignorance or infirmity : but the trespass-offering was for sins committed through inadvertence or the power of temptation. Among these latter were sins of great enormity, such as violence, and fraud, and lying, and even perjury itself. There must of course be very different degrees of criminality in these sins, according to the degree of information the person possessed, and the degree of conviction against which he acted. It might be that even in these things the person had sinned through ignorance only: but, whatever circumstances there might be to extenuate or to aggravate his crime, the trespass-offering was the appointed means whereby he was to obtain mercy and forgiveness.]

2. In the circumstances attending the offerings

[In the sin-offering, there was particular respect to the rank and quality of the offender. If he were a priest, he must offer a bullock; which was also the appointed offering for the whole congregation: if he were a ruler or magistrate, he must offer a kid, a male; but if he were a common individual, a female kid or lamb would suffice. The blood of the victim, in the priest's offering, was to be sprinkled before the veil, and to be put upon the horns of the altar of incense; whilst the blood of the ruler's, or common person's sacrifice, was not sprinkled at all, nor put on the horns of the golden altar, the altar of incense; but was put on the horns of the altar of burnt-offering only, (that is, the brasen altar,) and poured out at the bottom of that altar.

In the trespass-offering, no mention is made of a bullock for any one, but only of a female kid or lamb: even turtle-doves or young pigeons might be presented; or, in the event of a person not being able to afford them, he might offer about five pints of flour, which would be accepted in their stead. This is the excepted case which St. Paul refers to, when he says, " Almost

b See the whole fourth chapter. e ver. 1, 4. and chap. vi. 2, 3. ver. 6, 7, 11.

d

all things are by the law purged with blood." Now thus far it does appear, that the heavier sins were to be atoned for by the lighter sacrifices: and this is the source of all the difficulty that expositors find in the subject. But there were three things required in this offering, which had no place in the sin-offering, namely, confession of the crime, restitution of the property, and compensation for the injury. Suppose a person had " robbed God" by keeping back a part of his tithes, (whether intentionally or not,) as soon as it was discovered, he must present his offering, confess his fault', restore what he had unjustly taken, and add one-fifth more of its value, as a compensation for the injury he had done. The same process was to take place if by fraud or violence he had injured a man. This gives a decided preponderance to the trespass-offering: and shews, that the means used for the expiation of different offences bore a just proportion to the quality of those offences.]

We shall now proceed to state,

II. What they were both designed to teach us—

The spiritual instruction to be derived from the sacrifices themselves, and the particular rites that accompanied them, we pass over, for the reasons before assigned. But there are some lessons of an appropriate nature which we may dwell upon to great advantage:

1. Sin, however venial it may appear to us, is no light evil

[There are many branches of moral duty which are regarded as of but little importance. Truth, though approved and applauded as a virtue, is almost universally violated in the way of trade, and that too without any shame or remorse. Who that has ever bought or sold a commodity of any kind, has not seen that character realized, "It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth" of the good purchase he hath made1? He must know little of the world, or of himself, who does not know, that "as a nail sticketh between the joints of the stones, so does lying between buying and selling." Nor is honesty deemed at all more sacred than truth. Persons who would not rob or steal, will yet run in debt, when they know that they have not the means of satisfying their creditors. They will also defraud the revenue

f ver. 5.

g Lev. vi. 5.

e Heb. ix. 22. h If the person injured could not be found, restitution was to be made to the priest, as God's representative. Numb. v. 6—8.

i Prov. xx. 14.

k Ecclus. xxvii. 2.

by every device in their power; purchasing goods that have not paid the customs, avoiding stamps where they are positively enjoined, and withholding, where they think they can do it without detection, the taxes which by law they are bound to pay. Such is the morality of many, who yet would be very indignant to be called thieves and liars. But God has given them no such licence to dispense with his laws; nor do they applaud such conduct when they themselves are the victims of deceit and fraud. Let them know therefore, that however partial they may be in estimating their own character and conduct, God "will judge righteous judgment:" and that, if sins of ignorance and infirmity were not pardoned without an atonement, much less shall such flagrant sins as theirs. It is true, they may plead custom; but before they venture to rest upon that plea, let them be well assured that God will accept it.] 2. There may be much guilt attaching, where there is but little suspicion of it

[It is supposed in the sin-offering, that priests, and rulers, and common individuals, and whole congregations, may have committed sins, without being aware that they have done so. And may not the same thing occur amongst us? Let ministers, the priests of God, look back; let them consider the nature of their office, the responsibility attaching to it, the multitudes who have been, and yet are, committed to their care; the consequences of a faithful or unfaithful discharge of their duty; let them then compare their lives and ministrations with the lives and ministry of Christ and his Apostles, or with the express injunctions of Holy Writ; will they find no sins which they have overlooked? Will they see no occasion for the atonement of Christ? Truly, if it were not for the hope of mercy which we have through his atoning blood, we should be of all men most miserable; so great is the guilt which the most diligent amongst us has contracted by his defective ministrations. Let rulers proceed to make similar inquiries respecting their diligence, their impartiality, their zeal: let them see whether they might not have promoted in many instances a more active co-operation for the suppression of evil, and for the propagation of true religion will they see no cause for shame and sorrow, when they see how little they have done for God, and in what a degree they have borne the sword in vain? Let any private individual institute a similar inquiry into all the motives by which he has been actuated, the dispositions he has manifested, the tempers he has exercised, and the use he has made of his time, his property, his influence: will he find nothing to condemn? Lastly, let whole congregations or communities be made to examine the maxims embraced, the habits countenanced, and the conduct pursued among them: will there be no room for