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propitiation, to undergo the punishment in our stead, and to seal our forgiveness with his most precious blood. The decree of misery and death in this world, of eternal misery and eternal death in the world to come, would stand in full force against us, had not Christ "taken it out of the way by nailing it to his cross."7 Our repentance would have availed but little, our sincerest contrition would have effected nothing; for in our sins we must have died, if Jesus Christ had not died in our stead. But think not that on this account repentance is unnecessary; do not imagine that we may sin in full security, because we have a propitiation for our sins, Jesus Christ the righteous. He died to save the sinner, it is true; but not the presumptuous, the hardened, the impenitent sinner; not him who, with the gospel truths open before his eyes, embarks fearlessly in vice, goes on from bad to worse, and dies without conviction of his guilt, without a thorough reform of life. Christ has died for the redemption of all men; he has sent his

7 Col. ii. 14.

Edly Spirit upon earth to sanctify all who believe and trust in him; but his atonement will be wholly ineffectual, if we make our bodies, which by his mercy are the temples of that blessed Spirit, temples for the idols of our own lusts and sinful inclinations.

Christ came upon earth, not only to atone for our sins, but also "to command all men every where to repent;"s to instruct them n that purity and holiness of life, without which they cannot be his disciples: he came not only to put away the chastisement of our sins by his death, but also to put away the foul impurities of our hearts by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. His words, his doctrines, and the secret warnings of his grace, are constantly reminding us of our guilt; and if, deaf to these warnings, we go on still in our wickedness, that Holy Spirit will be taken from us; we shall become reprobates and outcasts; Christ, as far as we are concerned, will have died in vain, and we shall be doomed to perish everlastingly. But God forbid that such should be our

8 Acts xvii. 30.

case, brethren! tory we have been considering, the danger of trusting to the strength of our own hearts, or of relying upon the constancy of our own virtue. We have all sinned, and are all fallen short of the glory of God: let us pray, then, for the illumination of the divine grace, to enable us to discover our secret faults; let us, with all humility and contrite grief, confess them to him who is both able to cleanse us from them, and willing to pardon them through the merits and mediation of our blessed Redeemer. Thus haying a Rock of salvation whereon to ground our faith; having a bright and shining light to guide our steps, and a saving arm stretched forth to support and defend us; we shall pass unharmed through the waves of this troublesome world, and even through the valley of the shadow of Death, to those glorious mansions in our Father's house, whither our blessed Redeemer is gone before to prepare a place for his faithful followers and servants.

Let us learn from the his

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SERMON IX.

ISAIAH lxiii. 17.

O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear?

If we desire to understand the sacred writings properly, we must study them: that is, we must not only read, but reflect and meditate upon them, and resort to such assistance in their interpretation, as may enable us to arrive at their true meaning. It is not to be supposed that a book, originally written in languages which have been long out of use, can be thoroughly intelligible to any but those who have made themselves masters of

those languages: that even to them there. will not present themselves some difficulties, which can only be solved by a reference to the general sense of the whole; and it is through the neglect of such general reference, that men are often perplexed by particular passages, which seem, upon an abstract view, to imply something that human reason cannot reconcile with the known attributes of God, or with his general dealings with men. Some, when they find themselves thus involved, are satisfied with a literal interpretation; others endeavour to discover a meaning in the resources of their own intellects and this, by giving birth to the most conflicting opinions, causes heresies, schisms, and controversies to spring up, and divide the church of Christ into various contending sects. Now much of this evil might be avoided, would we apply ourselves seriously and diligently to the study of the sacred writings; to comparing particular passages with the general tenor of the whole; and resort to the assistance of commentators,

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