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upon the enemies of God. Thus Christ saith to his disciples, in explaining the parable of the tares, "The "son of man shall send forth his angels, and they "shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, "and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them "into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."(e) He also exhorts, "If thy "hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to "enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quench"ed; where their worm dieth not, and their fire is "not quenched."(f) And when he comes to judge the world, he will be "revealed from heaven in fla"ming fire taking vengeance on them that know not "God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."(g) When he sits in judgment, the sentence which he finally passes on his enemies will be," Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, "prepared for the devil and his angels."(h) And, the closing scene of all is, that "the devil who deceived "the nations, is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, "where the beast and the false prophet are to be tor"mented day and night, forever and ever."(i) No expression is more frequently made use of in the sacred writings to denote divine anger, than this.

And

when the anger of God is meant to be represented as exceedingly great, rising even to fury, no other metaphor is so frequently used to represent the terrible nature and awful consequences of it as fire.

"The

"mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the "earth is burnt at his presence, yea, the world and all "that dwell therein. 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."(k)

(e) Matt. xiii. 41, 42. i. 7, 8. (h) Matt. xxv. 41. E

(f) Mark ix. 43, 44. (g) 2 Thes. (i) Rev. xx. 10. [k] Nahum i. 5, 6.

AND as the term fire, in a great variety of instances,. is made use of as a figure in the sacred writings to express divine anger; there is no instance wherein it evidently appears to be used to express any other affection of the divine mind. It is true that John the baptist says, "I indeed baptise you with water-but "he that cometh after me-shall baptise you with the "holy ghost, and with fire."(1) But in representing Christ in this light, the Baptist seems to have reference to the description given, by the ancient prophets, of the character of Christ. For speaking of his coming, it is said, "Who may abide the day of his com"ing? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for "he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. And "he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,”(m) &c. And it was foretold that Christ should " purge "the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by "the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning."(n) As fire is a greater purifier than water, for this reason it probably is that the baptism with which Christ baptiseth his people, is represented by fire; and this in allusion to the Jewish custon. of purifying certain vessels by fire. In this passage, therefore, we find no evidence that any other affection of the divine mind than anger, is ever represented under the metaphor of fire.

2. THE final destruction of the enemies of God is represented in the holy scriptures, by those sacrifices for sin which were expressly required to be burned. The Psalmist saith, "The wicked shall perish, and the "enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs, "they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.(0) It was an express law of God that no fat of any sin-offering should be eaten, but that it should

[] Matt. iii. 11. [] Psa. xxxvü. 20.

[m] Malachi iii. 2, 3.

[x] Isai. xliv.

all be consumed by fire on the altar.(p)

But if the

fire that burned on the altar, and consumed the sacrifices which were offered upon it, were not an emblem of divine wrath; the consumption of these sacrifices would not have been a figure of the destruction of God's enemies: And there could have been no propriety in representing the latter under the image of the former. Had not David considered the fire on the altar as a figure of divine anger, we have no reason to suppose that he would have represented the effects of this anger on the enemies of God, by the sacrifices which were offered upon the altar of burnt-offering. We have, therefore, reason to conclude that he viewed the latter as an image of the former; which he could not have done with propriety, unless the fire which consumed these sacrifices were a figure of divine anger. God himself seems to represent the matter in the same light, where it is said by the prophet, "The "sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made "fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and "goats; with the fat of kidneys of rams: For the "Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaugh"ter in the land of Idumea."(q) Here the awful destruction which was coming on the Idumeans, is represented by their being made a sacrifice; and particularly imaged by those parts of the sin-offering which are consumed by fire, upon the Lord's altar.

THUS we see the fire which consumed the sacrifices which were offered upon the altar, represented divine anger; and was an image of the fire of divine wrath. And the holy flame, under the former dispensation, must be continually supplied, and fed with sacrifices; otherwise it would burst forth upon the people, and destroy them. So important is it that there should

[p] See Levit. iii. 15, 16. and vi. 30. [9] Isaiah xxxiv. 6.

be an exhibition of divine anger, preparatory to the exercise of pardoning mercy toward the sinner.

THE several ceremonies of the sacrifices for sin, under the levitical institution, taken together, had a language that was very significant. They implied-the divine anger against the sinner, and that in the judgment of God, the transgressor deserved to die, even that death which was the penalty of the law-that the transgressor was of the same sentiments, and entertained the same views of his own character and deserts— that he repented of his sins, and justified God and his law in condemning him-and finally that he fled to, and trusted in, the mercy of God through an atonement wherein his righteous anger figuratively burned against him. This seemed to be the plain and natural import of the sacrifices for sin, which were appointed by the levitical law; and of the rites and ceremonies to be observed in offering them.

IV. THE sacrifice of beasts, and the atonement thereby made for sin, was manifestly typical of the great sacrifice of Christ, and the atonement which he made for the sins of the world.

THAT the ancient tabernacle, and all the rites and forms of that worship which was performed in it, were typical, is clearly taught in the New Testament. For, speaking of this tabernacle, the Apostle says, it was "a figure for the time then present, in which were of"fered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make "him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the "conscience-But Christ being come an high priest, "by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made "with hands, that is to say not of this building; nei"ther by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own "blood entered in once into the holy place, having ob" tained eternal redemption for us.” On which he

reasons thus "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, “and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, "sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much "more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eter"nal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge 66 your conscience from dead works to serve the living "God."(r) We here observe that it was the blood of the ancient sacrifice that was particularly typical; and in this the figure of the great sacrifice which taketh away the sins of the world, was especially contained. It was the blood of the beast that cleansed from fleshly impurity; and it is the blood of Christ that purgeth the conscience from dead works to serve the living God. And seeing it is by his own_blood that Christ enters into heaven itself, to appear in the presence of God for his people; the Apostle from thence infers that it was necessary the earthly tabernacle, and all the ancient patterns of heavenly things, should also be purified with blood.(s)

It is further manifest that sin-offerings in particu lar were typical of the offering which Christ made of himself to God; and more eminently so than many of the offerings that were made under the law. For it was prophesied of Christ that he should make his soul an offering for sin; (t) that is, make himself a sin-offering. Therefore the Apostle speaking of Christ, saith that God hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.(u) And it is evident that Christ was made sin in no other sense than by being made a sin-offering. The Apostle, also, manifestly speaks of Christ as a sinoffering, when he says that he "needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did "once when he offered up himself."(w) And he ex

(r) Heb. ix. 8, 9, 11-14. (s) verse 23. (u) 2 Cor. v. 21. (w) Heb. vii. 27.

(†) Isaiah liii. 10.