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that holy sacrament admits us.

Keep yourselves from

idols, from all gods of human invention; and never hesitate to testify against all corruptions of that faith which was once delivered to the saints, and for which every Christian ought to contend, not with the weapons of carnal warfare, but with those which the Gospel armory affords, and with that sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Above all, let us endeavour, by the holiness of our lives and actions, to shew that the understanding that we have received is not speculative, but practical; that it is really the gift of the Son of God, conforming us to his heavenly tempers, and enabling us to purify ourselves even as he is pure.

INEFFICACY

OF

LEGAL SACRIFICES.

HEBREWS, X. 4.

"It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins."

THE object of the course of sermons in which I am at this time engaged, is to set forth the truth of God, as revealed in his holy word, in opposition to some of those errors which appear most prevalent and most dangerous at the present period. Amongst these, I consider that of the Socinians, who deny the Godhead, and, as a natural consequence, the atonement, of our adorable Saviour, to be one which it is peculiarly needful to combat. I have already endeavoured to present to you some of those arguments which prove the Deity of Christ; and I would now maintain both the necessity of an atonement for sin, and the inadequacy of any created being to make that atonement. With this view I have selected the words of the text, in which the Apostle asserts the inefficacy of those sacrifices which the law of Moses ordained, for this important purpose.

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"It is not possible (he says) that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins."

In examining this declaration, we may consider,

I. The necessity that exists for taking away sins.
II. The inadequacy of the legal sacrifices for that

purpose.

III. The efficacy of the true sacrifice, which they shadowed forth.

I. The necessity of taking away sins may be proved by two considerations; the one having respect to the honour of God, the other to the happiness of his crea

tures.

most deeply concerned He is the great Lord If he permits sin to

1. The honour of God is in the restraint of moral evil. and Governor of the universe. prevail unchecked, it must appear that he is either indifferent to it, or unable to prevent it; either of which suppositions would be highly dishonourable to him. If an earthly ruler were to tolerate the commission of crime, he would in fact encourage it, and his government would be a curse rather than a blessing to his subjects. Much more if the great King of kings, the source of all authority, were to manifest no displeasure against sin, we might be tempted to doubt the holiness and rectitude of his nature. But the Scriptures present to us abundant testimonies on this subject. When the prophet Habakkuk expostulated with the Lord concerning the oppression of his people by the Chaldeans, he made this the foundation of his argument:-" Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity" (Hab. i. 13). So the Psalmist declares,

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"Thou art not a God that hast pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee" (Ps. v. 5). Oh, do not this abominable thing, which I hate" (Jer. xliv. 4), was the earnest exhortation which the Lord continually pressed upon Israel. Nor did he testify his hatred of evil only by protesting against it, but also by most awful denunciations of vengeance. He has ordained a law, which requires an entire consecration of the soul to him, and the observation of the most exact truth, purity, justice, and benevolence, towards our fellowcreatures. This law denounces a curse against all who violate its minutest precept. "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things" (Deut. xxvii. 26). It is declared, that if any man, "when he heareth the words of this curse, shall bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart; the Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven" (Deut. xxix. 19, 20). We need not doubt, therefore, God's abhorrence of evil, nor can we doubt his power to execute his threatenings. Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished” (Prov. xi. 21). "Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him" (Nahum, i. 6). The destruction of the old world by the waters of the deluge of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from heaven -of Pharaoh and Sennacherib, with their respective

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