of God the Church is sometimes meant; but here it probably denotes heaven. Jesus Christ ministers in heaven itself: there He exercises his priesthood, there He presents his blood, there He pursues his intercession. And this is the grand foundation of the Christian's confidence, that he has a High-Priest who filleth all things; one of a Divine nature and dignity: one who, instead of all other sacrifices, offered Himself as the end and crown of all: by Himself He purged our sins, not by the blood of animal victims: other priests offered first for themselves; but He had no need, being "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." They were ever changing, they followed each other like shadows, and they were but shadows; He the eternal substance: their offerings had no virtue of their own to remove an atom of guilt; his one offering of himself, once for all, has forever perfected them that are sanctified. Before his coming, there was a dimness on the minds of believers as to their eternal prospect; but now that He has himself entered into heaven, He has brought immortality to light; no cloud remains; they also shall enter with Him into the eternal city. Such a sacrifice was required for such guilt as It became Him, of whom are all things, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

ours.

II. The improvement. "Let us draw near-with a true heart." All approaches to God must be made with this, with a sincere desire of his favour and blessing; without this, the best-conceived prayer would be a mockery of God. "And in full assurance of faith," as regards the power and the willingness of Christ to save us. He that doubts, as James declares, shall receive nothing. We may be permitted to doubt, indeed, of some things; we may doubt of our state before God; such doubting may be the consequence of a low degree of grace and a laxity in our walk; but we are not permitted to doubt of Christ's ability and readiness to save.

"Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience." This alludes, I suppose, to the sprinkling of blood on the day of atonement, as before mentioned: it was not enough that the blood was shed, it must be sprinkled; this was an essential part of the sacrifices: it represented the blood of Christ on the cross. Thus the blood of the paschal lamb was sprinkled on the door-posts, that the destroying angel might pass by those houses. This denotes our justification by faith in the death of Christ for sin. Faith in this is indispensable. If Christ is bread to the soul, that bread must be eaten ; "His name, through faith in his name," can alone give us perfect soundness in spirit before God. By " an evil" is meant an accusing "conscience;" filled with fear that hath torment. There is an allusion here to the sprinkling of those who were ceremonially defiled, as by the touch of a dead body: the contact of sin has a real taint, which must be purified, in order to our having peace with God; and this peace flows from the blood of Christ.

'And our bodies washed with pure water." The ashes of the heifer were mingled with clear water, and this was sprinkled on the face of the person ceremonially defiled. As the ashes marked the blood

of Christ, so the water marked the influence of the Spirit. Water is similarly significant in baptism. Water and blood came from the side of Christ, as John saw and testified; denoting at once an atoning sacrifice and a purifying Spirit. "Our bodies," our whole persons; it must be an entire purification. "I beseech you, present your bodies." We are to receive the sanctifying influence on the whole of our nature. Having, therefore, all these encouragements, "let us draw near." What should hinder such from drawing near? Is it not a glorious privilege for a guilty creature thus to approach God? and shall we not avail ourselves of it?

"Let us draw near" in prayer, in private devotion; often let us be asking for pardon, guidance, support. Every day we should have much to do with God; we have greater concerns to transact with Him than with all the world beside; He is emphatically that Being with whom we have to do! And we have open and full access; we need not come in a servile, trembling posture; we may come with boldness, as to a Father, led by the hand of an elder Brother; sustained by a sacrifice of infinite virtue, that looks backward to the whole Old Testament Church, and forward to the last believers under the New. And not only in moments of stated devotion, but in any moments, in the midst of business and crowds, we should often draw near to God: thoughts are quick, conceptions rapid: nothing need keep us long from prayer.

"Let us draw near" to God in public worship also; being glad to hear the call, let us go to the house of the Lord; strengthen each other by united devotion; and never forsake the assembling of ourselves together. What solemnity should pervade this worship! "How awful is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven !"

"Let us draw near" to God in heaven-in the holiest itself, where He manifests His beatific presence, where God Himself is all in all! where you shall be made pillars of His temple, and go no more out forever and forever!

And, finally, "let us draw near" to Him in the holy communion. Hear His gracious invitation, "Eat, oh friends; drink abundantly, oh beloved!" A feast of heavenly provisions for the hungry and thirsty after righteousness. "Let us, therefore, draw near with a true heart and in full assurance of faith."

XVIII.

THE SECRET THINGS OF GOD.*

DEUT., xxix., 29: The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

[Preached at Cambridge, March 14, 1802.]

In the former part of this chapter, Moses solemnly reminds the people of Israel of the covenant which God had made with them in Horeb, and contrasts the obligations they were under to the service of God, and the character of His worship, with the stupid idolatry of other nations, assuring them of the awful judgments that God would bring upon them if ever they revolted from him. He knew, by the spirit of prophecy, that this would in fact be the case, until they should be cast out of their own land and scattered into all countries, but checks the inquiry that would naturally arise from this subject; he checks himself, if I may so speak, by inculcating this important maxim, that any attempt to explain the secret things of God would be only gratifying their curiosity. It is as if he had said, You may be certain that, in the counsel of God, things are wisely kept back from view; and it is not for you to look into them, except so far as he has been pleased to lift up the veil.

The maxim which Moses here laid down is useful to various purposes. I shall apply it to the three following: to the decrees of God, the mysteries of Christian truth, and the concerns of human life.

I. The maxim here laid down may be applied, with great propriety, to the purposes and decrees of the eternal mind. Here is a part revealed which belongs to us and to our children, and a part which belongs to the Divine Being. Reason and Scripture both unite in ascribing to God infinite wisdom-a wisdom exercised over the works of his hands, which continually presides and governs. All things are represented as ordained according to the counsel of the Divine will. It is not a mere eye that surveys, but it is a contriving wisdom-the wisdom of a ruler and a father. This is continually ascribed to God, and a just conception of it is at the very foundation of religion. The devices of man's heart must be abased. "He," says Job, "performeth the thing that is appointed for me; and many such things are with him." Here is a path revealed, and a path that is secret, but perfectly consistent with man's designs as a free agent, though covered with obscurity until ripened into the event. Very few of the purposes

Vor. IV.-C c

* From the notes of John Greene, Esq

of God are made known and this compels his creatures to say, "Who hath known the mind of the Lord, or, being his counsellor, hath taught Him?" It is evident, then, that the secret purposes of God ought never to be made the ground of action: they do not belong to us, because we cannot tell that they are absolutely determined until the step is taken. Were it otherwise, the prudence of man would be set aside by the plans and purposes of God, whose proceedings would be inconsistent with human agency. Besides, it is very absurd to choose to walk by an obscure light, when a clear one can be obtained. Let no sentiment of fatality, then, have any influence over you in the choice of your actions; for both reason and revelation clearly mark out the rules of duty and the principles of morality.

Another reason to be assigned why the decrees and purposes of God cannot belong to us, but to the Lord our God, is, that they are formed on views and purposes suited only to an infinite mind, and, therefore, would not be safe grounds for human action. They are fit for Him, so far as they are to be performed in the course of his providence, but not for his creatures to accomplish. The same event with his views and purposes may be good and necessary, which, with respect to human agency, may be wicked and abominable. It was fit that the Son of Man should die for the sins of the world; but, notwithstanding, we are told that it was "by wicked hands He was crucified and slain." The purposes of God can never be the proper ground of action, because they are not the things that are revealed, which only belong to us and to our children; they are the secret things which belong to God. There is, indeed, a path revealed; and this is devoutly to acknowledge the Divine Being, to take refuge in Him in every time of trouble against the doubts and fears of our own hearts-against the skepticism excited by the seeming confusion of human affairs; and this is the proper use and improvement of the doctrine of the text. The rules of duty are made simple, and the avenues of piety are infinite, so as to leave no room in which the way is not clear for it to shine and manifest itself. The Divine knowledge strips us of that which is selfish and fantastic, and tends to place us at his footstool with the Apostle Paul, and to cry out, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!... For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things." Part, then, is revealed, which belongs to us and to our children, and a part to God; but the principal part belongs necessarily to God, and, therefore, that ought not to determine us, or to have any influence in our actions.

II. This maxim of Moses may be usefully applied to the mysterious truths of Christianity.

That there are mysteries, must be confessed by every one who attends seriously to the Divine word. There are many things in religion which transcend our capacities, but there is nothing con

tradictory. To transcend is one thing, to contradict is another: this would amount to imposture. Not to enter, however, largely on this subject, suffice it to touch on three things.

1. The union of the Divine and human natures in our blessed Saviour. This is a very great mystery, a truth that far exceeds our conceptions-nothing more so; yet there is nothing contradictory. There may be many occasions on which, with infinite propriety, God and man may become united. This is conceivable; and that they were so united is evident from the word of God. Jesus Christ had distinct attributes; he had the weakness of man and the dignity of God. We find him expiring in weakness, yet "upholding all things by the word of his power." There are some persons who either assert the humanity of Christ under pretence of denying his dignity, or maintain his dignity under pretence of denying his humanity; and thus, when we go from general truths to account for particular parts, we are at once lost. The way to avoid this, is to assign secret things to the Lord our God, and those that are revealed as inestimable proofs of love, and for our comfort, to us and to our children.

2. That Jesus Christ was sacrificed for the sins of the world is as plain, to a simple understanding, as any truth in the word of God; yet all the questions that may arise in a curious mind respecting it cannot be answered: for instance, whether the death of Christ was absolutely necessary for the atonement of sin? why it was no sooner offered? why it was no more extensive, so as to embrace and benefit all mankind? These are questions which do not affect the general truth; they are connected with the secret things which belong to the Lord our God: but the fact itself of the death of Christ-that "He died for our sins, according to the Scriptures"-belongs to us and to our children.

The doctrine of the atonement is a most essential part of holy writ, importing that Jesus Christ is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" the Way to the Father, the Victim upon whom all our sins are laid and are to be confessed. This is the right and main spring of genuine contrition, producing right sentiments towards God: "No man cometh unto the Father but by Him."

3. The agency of the Divine Spirit upon the mind is a truth which, in one sense, belongs to us and to our children, and, in the other sense, belongs to God. None can deny it to be possible that a spirit should have access to man, when he recollects that "God is a Spirit," and "the Father of spirits," and therefore more nearly allied to our spiritual than material part, and is present in all the active powers of matter. Is it not strange that any man should deny the probability of this great agency? 66 that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." But do you wish to know the manner in which this influence is exerted and maintained? Do you wish to know the exact line of separation between human action and the agency of the Spirit? where the one begins and the other terminates? These are questions which we cannot