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ignorance, be put to the account; all the smallest deviations and defects which the penetrating eye of God has seen, (all of which he has noted in the book of his remembrance,) and surely we shall feel the force of that question that was put to Job," Is not thy wickedness great? are not thine iniquities infinite?" If we bring every thing to the touchstone of God's law, we shall see, that "there is not a just man upon earth who liveth and sinneth note;" and that "in many things we all offend;" so that there is but too much reason for every one of us to exclaim with the Psalmist, "Who can understand his errors? O cleanse thou me from my secret faults!" Let none of us then extenuate our guilt, or think it sufficient to say, "It was an errorf:" but let us rather humble ourselves as altogether filthy and abominable, as a mass of corruption, a living body of sini.]

2. How awful must be the state of those who live in presumptuous sins!

[The evil of sins committed ignorantly, and without design, is so great, that it cannot be expiated but by the blood of atonement: what then shall we say of presumptuous sins? how heinous must they be! Let us attend to the voice of God, who has himself compared the guilt contracted by unintentional, and by presumptuous sin; and who declares that, though provision was made under the law for the forgiveness of the former, there was no remedy whatever for the latter: the offender was to be put to death, and to be consigned over to endless perdition. Let none then think it a light matter to violate the dictates of conscience, and the commands of God; for, in so doing, they pour contempt upon God's law, yea, and upon God himself also1: and the time is quickly coming, when God shall repay them to their facem; and shall beat them, not like the ignorant offender, with few stripes, but, as the wilful delinquent, with many stripes". Let this consideration make us cry to God in those words of the Psalmist, "Keep thy servant from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me; so shall I be undefiled and innocent from the great offence."]

3. How desperate is the condition of those who make light of Christ's atonement!

[Under the law, there was no remission even of the smallest error, but through the blood of atonement. Nor can any sin

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whatever be pardoned, under the gospel dispensation, but through the sacrifice of Christ. Yet, when we speak of Christ as the only remedy for sin, and urge the necessity of believing in him for justification, many are ready to object, Why does he insist so much on justification by faith?' But the answer is plain: You are sinners before God; and your one great concern should be to know how your sins may be forgiven: now God has provided a way, and only one way, of forgiveness; and that is, through the atonement of Christ: therefore we set forth Christ as the one remedy for sin; and exhort you continually to believe in him.' Consider then, I pray you, what the true scope of such objections is: it is to rob Christ of his glory, and your own souls of salvation. Remember this, and be thankful, that the atonement is so much insisted on, so continually set before you. Pour not contempt upon it: for, if "they who despised Moses' law died without mercy," "of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing??" Yes, to such wilful transgressors, "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation to consume them a.”] 4. How wonderful must be the efficacy of the blood of Christ!

[Let only one man's sins be set forth, and they will be found numberless as the sands upon the sea-shore: yet the blood of Christ can cleanse, not him only, but a whole world of sinners, yea, all who have ever existed these six thousand years, or shall ever exist to the very end of time: moreover, his one offering can cleanse them, not merely from sins of ignorance, but even from presumptuous sins, for which no remedy whatever was appointed by the law of Moses'. What a view does this give us of the death of Christ! O that we could realize it in our minds, just as the offender under the law realized the substitution of the animal which he presented to the priest to be offered in his stead! Then should we have a just apprehension of his dignity, and a becoming sense of his love. Let us then carry to him our crimson sins, not doubting but that they shall all be purged away; and we may rest assured that, in a little time, we shall join the heavenly choir in singing, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, be glory and dominion for ever and ever "."]

P Heb. x. 28, 29. s Isai. i. 18.

9 Heb. x. 26, 27.
t 1 John i. 7.

r Acts xiii. 39.

u Rev. i. 5, 6.

CXXV.

FIRE ON THE ALTAR NOT TO GO OUT.

Lev. vi. 13. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar: it shall never go out.

IT is a matter of deep regret that religious persons do not enter more fully into the Jewish Ritual, and explore with more accuracy the mysteries contained in it. And I am not sure that Ministers, whose office properly leads them to unfold the sacred volume to their people, are not chargeable with a great measure of this remissness, in that they are not more careful to bring forth to their view the treasures of wisdom that are hid in that invaluable mine.

Of course, it will not be expected that on this occasion I should attempt any thing more than to illustrate the subject that is immediately before me. But I greatly mistake, if that alone will not amply suffice to justify my introductory observation; and to shew, that an investigation of the Law in all its parts would well repay the labours of the most diligent research.

The point for our present consideration is, the particular appointment, that the fire on the altar should never be suffered to go out. I will endeavour to set forth,

I. Its typical import, as relating to the Gospel

Every part of the Ceremonial Law was "a shadow of good things to come." This particular ordinance clearly shews,

1. That we all need an atonement

[This fire, which was to be kept in, was given from heaven: and it was given for the use of all; of all Israel without exception. There was not one for whom an atonement was not to be offered. Aaron himself must offer an atonement for himself, before he can offer one for the people. Who then amongst us can hope to come with acceptance into the divine presence in any other way? Our blessed Lord has told us, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." And St. Paul assures us, that "without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins." We must all, therefore, bring our offering to

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the altar; and lay our hands upon the head of our offering; and look for pardon solely through the atoning blood of Jesus. The fire, too, was for the daily use of all. And daily, yea, and hourly, have all of us occasion to come to God in the same way. There is not an offering that we present to God, but it must be placed on his altar: and then only can it ascend with a sweet smell before God, when it has undergone its appointed process in that fire.]

2. That the sacrifices under the Law are insufficient for us

[Thousands and myriads of beasts were consumed on God's altar; and yet the fire continued to burn, as unsatisfied, and demanding fresh victims. Had the offerings already presented effected a complete satisfaction for sin, the fire might have been extinguished. But the repetition of the sacrifices clearly shewed, that a full atonement had not yet been offered. In fact, as the Apostle tells us, they were no more than "remembrances of sins made from year to year;" and "could never take away sin," either from God's register of crimes, or from the conscience of the offender himself. Thus, under the very Law itself, the insufficiency of the Law was loudly proclaimed; and the people were taught to look forward to a better dispensation, as the end of that which was, after a time, to be abolished.]

3. That God would in due time provide himself a sacrifice, with which he himself would be satisfied

[From the beginning, God had taught men to look forward to a sacrifice which should in due time be offered. It is probable that the beasts, with whose skins our first parents were clothed, were by God's command first offered in sacrifice to him. We are sure that Abel offered in sacrifice the firstlings of his flock: and it is probable that fire was sent from heaven, as it certainly was on different occasions afterwards, to consume it: and that it was this visible token of God's acceptance of Abel's sacrifice, that inflamed the envy and the rage of Cain. From Noah's offerings, also, "God smelled a sweet savour," as shadowing forth that great sacrifice which should in due time be offered. To Abraham the purpose of God was marked in a still more peculiar manner. He was commanded to" take his son, his only son, Isaac," and to offer him up upon an altar, on that very mountain where the Temple afterwards was built, and where the Lord Jesus Christ himself was crucified. The fire, therefore, that was burning upon the altar, and the wood with which it was kept alive,

c Heb. x. 1-4, 11. and ix. 9. d Gen. iv. 4, 5. e Gen. viii. 20, 21.

did, in effect, say, as Isaac so many hundred years before had done, "Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" Yea, it gave also the very answer which Abraham had done, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering." Thus, by keeping up "Thus, by keeping up the expectation of the Great Sacrifice which all the offerings of the Law prefigured, it declared, in fact, to every successive generation, that in the fulness of time God would send forth his own Son, to "make his soul an offering for sin," and, by bearing in his own person the iniquities of us all, "to take them away from us." In short, this fire, and every offering that was consumed by it, directed the attention of every true Israelite to that adorable "Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world"," and who in actual efficiency, as well as in the divine purpose, has been "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world'."]

4. That all who should not be interested in that great sacrifice must expect His sorest judgments—

[The victims consumed by that fire were considered as standing in the place of men who deserved punishment. This was clearly marked, not only by their being set apart by all Israel, and offered with that express view, but by the offenders themselves putting their hands on the heads of their victims, and transferring their sins to the creatures that were to be offered in sacrifice to God. The fire that consumed them was expressive of God's indignation against sin, and declared the doom which the sinner himself merited at God's hands; yea, and the doom, too, which he himself must experience, if sin should ever be visited on him. It declared, what the New Testament also abundantly confirms, that "God is a consuming fire';" and that they who shall be visited with his righteous indignation, must be "cast into a lake of firem," where "their worm dieth not, and the fire never shall be quenched"." Methinks, then, the fire burning on the altar gave to every person that beheld it this awful admonition; "Who can dwell with the devouring fire? Who can dwell with everlasting burnings°?”] In considering this ordinance, it will be proper yet further to declare,

II. Its mystical import, as relating to the Church

The different ordinances of the Jewish Law had at least a two-fold meaning, and, in many instances, a

f Gen. xxii. 7, 8. i Rev. xiii. 8.

m Rev. xx. 15.

• Isai. xxxiii. 14.

g Isai. liii. 6, 10.

k Lev. iv. 4, 15, 24, 29, 33.

h John i. 29.

1 Heb. xii. 29.

n Mark ix. 43, 44, 45, 46, 48. five times.

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