hate him, and I should be justified in so doing. What would you say of the magistrate who would confound the case of the thief and the murderer, with that of the obedient and loyal subject? God must punish sin or annihilate himself? Do you hear me, thoughtless sinner; and does my own heart hear? The denunciation of his vengeance is awful in the extreme, so much so, that I could never, exclusively in one sermon, preach upon the condemnation of the wicked, lest I should drive myself and others to despair. St. Paul says, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade 1 " that is, the terror of the Lord blended with the mercy of God. We know perfectly well that there is forgiveness with God, he has forgiven, and will forgive, millions, and will eventually usher them into his presence, in all the glories of his own image.

men;

II. Here, then, in the second place, we see

THE NECESSITY OF A SACRIFICE FOR SIN, IF THE SINNER IS TO BE SAVED. God must first receive a sacrifice, the justice of God must be reconciled to the salvation of the sinner. Some modern writer asserts, that man only is to be reconciled to God; but this is incorrect: God must also be reconciled to man, and to the

1 2 Cor. v. 11.

salvation of all men (so far as the merit of the sacrifice is considered). To say that man only is reconciled, is subversive of true piety; "whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness : that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." The reconciliation of God involves more than love,-it involves friendship.2 I lately read with regret, a passage in a modern author, wherein he says, The apostles, St. Paul and St. James, in the known passages on justification, meant precisely the same thing;' this is erroneous. Paul, when he tells us that man is justified by faith, without the works of the law, presents us with the recipient of a sovereign blessing at the hands of God, that is, the everlasting righteousness of the Son of God imputed to him by faith. St. James, when he tells us a man is justified by his works, presents us with the same individual, under the influence of the same faith, made the subject of God's moral

1 Romans iii. 25, 26.

2 Mr. Howels here quoted a passage from a Sermon by Edwards, in Williams's edition, the purport of which was, that the reconciliation of God and man must be mutual, involving the eternal friendship between both.

government, and, as such, justified by God in the justification of his person by faith in his Son Jesus Christ. St. Paul presents us with the believer, acquitted in the righteousness of Christ; St. James presents the same believer in his father's house, in delightful subjection to his paternal authority. The same believer presented under different aspects, in the one, as a recipient of a blessing; in the other, as evidencing its fruits. Believers are justified to be received as children; justified in time and in eternity, by all the laws of their heavenly father.

III. I observe, THAT A SACRIFICE MUST BE INFINITE; nothing less amounts to a sacrifice; it is an impossibility in the nature of things: man as a transgressor, is a Deicide, a suicide, a homicide. Every sin we commit is a shaft that flies from our own bosom, and is directed to the vitals of Deity. Infinity must constitute a sacrifice, and that must be united to humanity. The language of justice is God for God, man for man: a divine person is offended-it is only the humanity that could suffer death.

IV. AN INFINITE SACRIFICE HAS BEEN OFFERED, "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bring

ing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." He was made a perfect High-priest; he attained perfection in all he suffered here below, especially in his priesthood, he was consecrated in his own blood; some say that Christ became a High-priest when he ascended into heaven. This is incorrect, he was himself the offerer, and the perfect sacrifice that was offered. Divine justice was reconciled, but not only so; all the perfections of Deity were reconciled to the salvation of man. In the sacrifice of Messiah, justice was as well satisfied as mercy; he was made perfect, that he might satisfy the perfections of Deity,-that he might claim his people at the hands of Deity, addressing Deity on Calvary in behalf of his church below: he was made perfect also by suffering, that he might be enabled to sympathize with us, as became him as our High-priest; for he must know, and feel more than we could know and feel. In intellect and feeling he attained to an exquisite degree of perfection, which we cannot conceive; he grew in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man. He never felt all the evil of sin till on the cross; then the eye of his intellect fully beheld it :—he never felt all the evil of sin, till he felt there the wrath of his heavenly Father. The sympathy

of the body of Christ with his soul in his sufferings, was far more than all the sufferings of others. Hell raged in his body as well as in his soul. There he learned what his people's sin was, and what its desert; and in exact proportion as he saw the evil of sin, and felt its penal consequences, his love to God and man increased, and attained the highest perfection. Sin was presented to his intellect in all its horrors, and raged in his bosom in all its penal consequences, but in him left no taint of evil. "For it became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." I lament the confusion of some respecting the humanity of Christ; I charge you not to hear them. The consequences of indulging curiosity, in going to hear the preaching of error, have frequently been ruinous. Let error be kept at a distance. Our God has triumphed. Messiah has died, has risen again, leading captivity captive; and now seated above as our High-priest, he sympathizes with and for his people. His sympathy snatches us from the jaws of hell.

V. Lastly, IN AND BY VIRTUE OF HIS OWN

SACRIFICE HE IS THE LEADER OF HIS DEAR

FAMILY. He leads them on from grace to grace,