of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." "And almost all

things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." "For

then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."-Heb. ix. 7; 12-15; 22; 26; 28.

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By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God." "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.”—Heb. x. 10—12; 14; 19, 20.

"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of

his gifts and by it he being dead yet speaketh."* -Heb. xi. 4.

"Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate."-Heb. xiii. 12.

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."-1 Pet. ii. 24.

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"And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin." 'Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."-1 John iii. 5; 16.

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."-1 John iv. 9, 10; 14.

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."— 1 John v. 11.

*Was not Abel's sacrifice more excellent than Cain's because it was bloody sacrifice, and had respect to the Atonement of Him who was to bruise the serpent's head?

"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."-Rev. i. 5.

In corroboration of the doctrine taught in these passages, consider the early institution of sacrifices, and the practice now so prevalent amongst heathen nations, of offering blood as an expiation for sin. No natural, civil, or political reason can be assigned for it. In itself it is unnatural, and never could have entered the mind of man, and is altogether unaccountable, except on the Scriptural declaration, that "without shedding of blood there is no remission." Heb. ix. 22.

Consider the institution of the Lord's Supper. It is designed to shew forth the Lord's death (or, the purpose of it) till he come again. But why this marked remembrance of his death, if he suffered merely as a witness or a martyr? On the supposition of his being a mere teacher and an exemplar of morals, one would suppose that his life rather than his death would be principally remembered and commemorated; but the reverse is the fact.

Again; on the mount of transfiguration, when Moses and Elias appeared and spake of his decease that he should accomplish at Jeru

salem, a vast importance is evidently attached to the death of Christ. It is the sole theme of their discourse. It is the burthen, also, of the praises of heaven,-" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain." Could any thing but the "mystery of godliness," "God manifest in the flesh," and the vicarious nature of his sufferings, inspire the acclamations and hallelujahs of the blessed?

Last of all; contemplate the agony in the garden, and the bitter cry of desolation on the cross. What was it wrung from the spotless Lamb of God those drops of blood? and why the necessity of a ministering angel to strengthen Him? Was it the prospect of the crown of thorns, the nails, and the spear? Oh no. Many men, many women, and many youths, have gone to the stake rejoicing, and encountered bodily tortures far more lingering and dreadful than their Lord and Master, without even shedding a tear, much less drops of blood. What means, then, this agony and sorrow of soul? Can it be anything less than the wages of sin, the weight of the Divine anger which he was about to sustain in the place of the guilty? And when suspended on the tree, how comes it to pass that the Father hid himself from him in whom He had declared He was "well pleased"? Why was he, the "beloved Son," forsaken of his Father, and put to shame and grief by Him? Can any other answer be

given, than that Christ was, in that hour of darkness and desertion, drinking the very dregs

of that cup of misery and death which was our portion-that he was then, in short, made an offering for sin; suffering the just for the unjust, that we might be brought near to God through his blood?

Oh! never, never canst thou know

What then for thee the Saviour bore,-
The pangs of that mysterious woe

That wrung his frame at every pore,-
The weight that press'd upon his brow,—
The fever of his bosom's core!

Yes! man for man perchance may brave
The horrors of the yawning grave;

And friend for friend, or child for sire,
Undaunted and unmov'd expire;
From love-or piety-or pride-
But who can die as Jesus died?

Be not stumbled or offended because the doctrine is mysterious. The Apostle expressly declares it to be a mystery: 1 Cor. ii. 7; 1 Tim. iii. 16. If there was nothing mysterious or above our comprehension in Christianity, it would bear no analogy to the other works of Him whose judgments are a great deep, and whose ways are past finding out." Can we conceive of a Being uncreated, "without beginning of days or end of life"? Can we comprehend the union of soul and body, or how spirit acts on matter in the volitions of our own minds? And yet we receive these truths