of Adam's first sacrifice after his fall from God, and the sense of his anger*. 4. It was in the view of the atoning sacrifice of Christ, the` Lamb of God, that all the schemes of the Jewish sacrifices, all the slaughter and burnt-offerings of the animals, and the pourings-out and sprinklings of blood, and the washings with water in the Jewish sacrifices, were first appointed as figurative methods to cleanse them from sinful defilements: And the Lord Jesus Christ at last appeared, or was set forth hereby, as the great deliverer from the wrath of God, and as typified under all these figures and shadows. Heb. x. 1—12. "The law having a shadow of good things to come, but not the very image of the things," those sacrifices were all imperfect as to the grand design; for they could not cleanse the consciences of men from guilt before God; Heb. x. 1, 2. In this respect Christ alone was the true sacrifice; Heb. ix. 11, 12. And this was the reason of shedding of the blood of beasts according to the law: Heb. ix. 14, 15, 22. For there was no remission without blood. The blood of Christ, by virtue of his union with the true God, had infinite and immortal value in it. "Christ, the Lamb of God, offered himself without spot unto God, to purge our consciences from dead works, (or from works that deserve death) that we might serve the living and true God with acceptance:" Thus Israel, considered as a national church, derived this advantage from our Lord Jesus Christ. And it was with this view that the national atonement, or the bullock that was offered every year for the sins of the whole nation, Lev. xvi. and xvii. chapters, attained its proper effect, and delivered the whole nation from national guilt, and that destruction which the justice of God might have brought upon it for sin. 5. It was in the view of this great sacrifice, slain from the foundation of the world, that God pardoned the personal guilt of men, and forgave thousands of sins under the Old Testament, and spared the guilty, each of them in their day and season, and *As it is generally supposed by our divines, that it was Jesus the Son of God, who, in the name of his Father, appeared to Adam in the garden after his sin, and had this conversation with him; so it is not unlikely that God, in the person of his Son Jesus, taught Adam how to manage these sacrifices, by taking off the skins, and cutting the beast into proper parts, and burning them; of which there is a hint given in the Greek translation of the septuagint; Gen. iv. 7. which is not found in the Hebrew original at present, where God says to Cain, if thou hast rightly offered, but hast not rightly divided the sacrifice, thou hast sinned. And if this is supposed to be a true account of the matter, then Jesus Christ himself, in a preludium to his incarnation, was the first high-priest, and he that taught Adam first to offer a sacrifice, and so, in the sight of God, it was accepted from the hands of him, whom God had constituted an everlasting high priest; though, at the same time, the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God, might be typified by the slaughter and sacrifice of the beast itself. took away the guilt of their iniquities. So David was forgiven his adultery and his murder, crimes of the deepest dye, for which David knew of no sacrifice; Ps. li. 16. and for which no man could be pardoned or justified by any ceremonies in the law of Moses. And therefore the apostle says; Acts xiii. 38, 39. By this man, even Jesus Christ, there was forgiveness appointed for those sins for which no sacrifices were ordered by the law of Moses, nor any sacrifices were offered, or accepted, according to the levitical law. Rom. iii. 24, 25. God has set him forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood; to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God: But even at that time there was forgiveness with God in the view of Christ; for even David speaks with much freedom in the xxxii. Psalm, and elsewhere, of the pardon of sin. It was also through this blood of the Lamb slain, that Solomon was pardoned his many heinous and grievous sins; i. e. the Lamb of God, slain in the view of the Father, as an atoning sacrifice, from the foundation of the world; And through the same blood God forgave the repeated crimes of Manasseh the king, who had filled Jerusalem with slaughter; and all the saints, and all the kings, who had ever been sinners, and were saved, it was in this view of the blood of the Lamb; always supposing trust in the mercy of God, together with sincere repentance, and return to God, was found at the same time. Blessed Jesus, how early and how extensive was this salvation through thy blood, even before it was actually offered! 6. The gospel of the salvation of sinful man was contrived and appointed by the great God, in this view of Jesus, the Lamb of God, the great expiatory sacrifice, slain from the foundation of the world; And it is for this reason that the doctrine of this atonement for sin by sacrifice, runs through all the parts and forms of religions which God early appointed in the world, and the several religions which man, under the divine appointment of God, ever practised. Heb. x. 12-18. Where there is a particular account given of the covenant of grace, from the language of the prophets. "This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin, for ever sat down on the right-hand of God ;-for by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified; whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us; for after he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws in their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins * We translate this word forgiveness, as though it were Apoi, remission, but the word is wapos, which properly signifies the passing by of sin; that is, that God did not actually punish them: Though the Cocceian writers do not make a just inference from this, that therefore no sius were pardoned under the Old Testament, but merely the punishment of them delayed or neglected, and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." These are the blessings of the gospel of Christ; here is the sanctifying Spirit included, as well as the blood of atonement; here is a purification of our natures, as well as a justification of our persons, introduced in the view of this Lamb that was slain: And therefore John the baptist might say, in more senses than one; John i. 29. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. He takes away the guilt of sin in the soul, by the sanctification of his Spirit. All the blessed promises of the gospel, in the Old Testament and in the New, are but the language of this new covenant, which arose from the view and foresight of the blood of this dying Lamb: which was therefore called the blood of the everlasting covenant; Heb. xiii. 20. Let me ask ye now, O sinners, whose consciences are exposed to agonies through the guilt of sin, and whose souls are in danger of being captivated into new offence, by the power of sin within you: Do you not see how necessary these blessings are to your salvation? How can you have your sins pardoned, or your souls accepted with God unto eternal life, or renewed, unto holiness, if you have not an interest in the salvation wrought by the the blood of the Lamb? 7. It was with this design, and in the view of this blood of Jesus, the great sacrifice, that all the ordinances of the New Testament itself were instituted: Baptism itself had something of this signification; for so said Ananias the christian to Paul, when he was first struck down to the ground by the vision from heaven, Why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord Jesus; Acts xxii. 16. The water of baptism came to have a cleansing and sanctifying virtue from the foresight and eternal mercy of God, who appointed Jesus Christ to be slain for a sacrifice; which is also intimated Heb. x. 22. 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, i. e. in baptism, with pure water. There is no need of the particular description of the institution of the Lord's-supper; Mat. xxvi. 28. Rev. i. 5. where in the blood of Jesus Christ is said to wash us from our sins. The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin; 1 John i. 7. 8. It was in the view of this Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, that there was a way made, provided, and prepar ed, for our Lord Jesus Christ to arise from the dead. The apostle to the Hebrews, in chap. xiii. ver. 20. is express in this sentiment. "The God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant;" i, e. the cove nant of grace and pardon, which began as soon as man had sinned, and remains to this day, even to all everlasting, to speak peace and pardon to sinners. Every circumstance in this part of the history of our Saviour was appointed in this view. He died, and lay in the grave for a short season, to prove the truth and reality of his death; and he arose again, to confirm the predictions of the ancient prophets; for all the works of God, con cerning our Lord Jesus Christ, and his transactions in life and in death, were known to him from the beginning of the world; and every step of his sufferings, and his rising from the grave, was all ordained with a view to this covenant, by which he was raised from the dead; Act. xi. 18. All the decrees of God, and all the predictions of the prophets, all the types of the old Jewish law,' and all the promises of God with regard to his Son Jesus, were doubtless appointed, accomplished, and fulfilled, with regard to this great sacrifice. The holy angels, who were to be employed in the resurrec tion and ascension of Christ, were doubtless acquainted with this glorious event beforehand; every one of those holy ones had their orders to be ready at the proper post for these transactions; for his rising from the dead, and his glorious entrance, as the Son of God, into his heavenly kingdom; thousands of angels were present there; Ps. lxviii. 17, 18. "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, &c." 9. Therefore was our Lord Jesus Christ represented to the apostle John as a Lamb slain in the midst of the throne, after his resurrection, and his entrance into glory in heaven; Rev. v. 6. that there might be an everlasting emblem, and monument, or memorial of the Lamb slain before the face of God, for all the blessed designs which God had in his view for the salvation of his people, through all the ages of mankind, ever since sin entered into the world, even to the end of time, and the consummation of all things: That by this vision there might be before the eyes of God a perpetual appearance of this foundation of our pardon of sin, the justification of our persons through the blood of Christ, and our acceptance with God in the heavenly world. And who can tell, or who can conceive, how many and how various were the blessed and glorious ends that God designed, and actually attained, by this representation ? DISCOURSE VI. The early Appointment of the Atonement of Christ manifested. REV. xiii. 8. and v. 6.-Of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In the midst of the throne-stood a Lamb as it had been slain. THE SECOND PART. THUS far have we considered what are the transactions of God in which he might have a regard to the sacrifice of Christ, represented so early as before the foundation of the world. In the next place, I proceed to consider what divine lessons of instruction, or consolation, may be derived from this vision of the Lamb, as it had been slain, appearing in the midst of the throne; Rev. xiii. 6. And among these we may number such as follow: 1. There is hereby an information given to the inhabitants of the heavenly world, that Jesus, the Son of God, who was made man, has redeemed many from among the children of men, to be a praise unto him, and his glory, in all ages to come. There is an enquiry; Rev. vii. 13. "What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they?" To this we answer, as in that text, verse 14. "These are they which came out of great tribulation." Or we may give the same answer as Zeba and Zalmunna answered to Gideon, when they were asked; Judges viii. 18, 19. "What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor?" And they answered, "As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. And he said, they were my brethren, even the sons of my mother." Each of them are the brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ, born of women, and exposed to "great tribulations ;" but "they have all washed their robes, and made them white, in the blood of the Lamb And therefore they are like the angels of heaven, who stand round the throne," in the glorious services for which they were prepared, in the court of our blessed Redeemer, each of them the image of the first-born Son of God, and reconciled to God the Father by his blood, and shall dwell there for ever with him. A glorious Reconciler, and a divine atonement, and happy souls who are partakers of it! 2. The Lamb, as it had been slain, appears there as a divine Mediator, and is a memorial of the everlasting virtue, |