cent or fallen state, could make no conditions for himself. His obtaining it therefore, must under all circumstances depend on his conformity to the conditions vouchsafed to him by his Maker. What those conditions of Salvation were before the fall, we Christians are not concerned with. What they now are under the covenant of grace, it is the object of the Bible to inform us. By adopting that golden canon of criticism, prescribed in the twentieth Article of our Church; a canon necessary to the interpretation of writings of every kind; which directs us not so to expound one part of Scripture that it be repugnant to another, we feel ourselves warranted in determining the great doctrine of vicarious atonement for sin by the shedding of blood, to be the true doctrine of Scripture; because it is the only doctrine that makes the Bible a consistent book. This idea, therefore, must be expected to accompany Divine Revelation through all its parts. To be satisfied that it does, all that is necessary is, that its contents be duly examined.

The Patriarchs and faithful Jews pre

66

the tenor of the great charter of our rights delivered in Scripture, a right to it, as heirs in reversion; a right derived from Him and held of him, the Lord our Righteousness, the Author and Finisher of our Salvation. Having then (in the language addressed by St. Paul to his Hebrew brethren, with the express view of leading them from the shadows of the Law to the realities of the Gospel,) liberty to enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus; by a new and living way which he hath new made for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; and having an High Priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith; having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold the profession of our faith without wavering. For he is faithful that hath promised." Heb. x. 19.

The great subject in which we have been engaged, leads to a conclusion, in which every one to whom the Gospel has been sent is deeply interested. With respect to his salvation, man, whether in an inno

"his Strength and his Redeemer."-On the ground of this faith therefore he confessed and humbled himself, prayed for and obtained absolution. 66 Against thee only have I sinned; deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my Salvation! and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness." Psal. li.

The apostate Jews, who had compleatly deserted that standard of faith, which stamped a value on the religion of their forefathers, still preserved the same idea; but applied its efficacy to the stated observances of the ritual Law, to which alone they looked for righteousness. And the object the Apostles had in view was, to restore this doctrine of atonement to its original standard; by correcting the fatal errors which had been grafted on this important subject, and teaching men to look for Salvation only through faith in the blood of a crucified Redeemer.

Whilst even the Heathens, directed by that ray of light which Revelation had imparted to them, adopted the same prevailing idea, as the ground, on which their religious service, false as it was, was ori

ginally

ginally built.

Those sublime mysteries which had been carried off with them, on their separation from the worshippers of the true God, though grossly corrupted by filthy prostitutions, served nevertheless to preserve some general notion relative to the object of their institution. From whence it appears, that each species of worshippers, however different their religious service, agreed in one point; that of looking beyond themselves, for what was to render them acceptable to the object of their respective worship.

It was reserved for professors under the Christian dispensation, to exchange this general idea of vicarious atonement for sin, to which Paganism no less than Divine Revelation, bears decided testimony, for that most fatal one of self-sufficiency and independence; an idea not more incompatible with the present state of fallen man, than it is revolting to that gracious plan, which has been set on foot for his recovery.

Those, who in former dispensations have been blessed with the advantage of Revelation, have been guided, or at least have professed

professed to be guided by it. Under the Christian Dispensation, we are constrained to see that extraordinary phenomenon of Revelation openly rejected: and men, calling themselves reasonable beings, setting themselves up to be their own oracles, and their own Saviours. This fatal delusion can be considered but as one of the last desperate efforts of the grand enemy of mankind, to counteract the gracious scheme of Redemption, by rendering them indisposed to receive it.

But such men, who affect to be wise

above what is written, it may be proper to remind, that reason was given for the purpose of enabling them to form a proper judgement with respect to the evidence on which a Revelation stands; but not to be set up in opposition to the Revelation itself.

When employed in ascertaining the authenticity of a Revelation, it is employed in the execution of a task to which it was intended to be competent; that of guarding against notorious imposition: but when appealed to as an infallible standard of judgement, by which the contents of a Revelation