1MSCOlTRSE VI. 230 2. God would not deal thus with the fallen and miserable race of mankind,to appoint such a sacrifice,which had little or no efficacy in it. Our Saviour himself tells us, John vi. 33, 35. That " he is the bread of life ; and except we eat his flesh, and drink his blood, except the fallen and perishing race of mankind apply themselves to this way of salvation by Jesus Christ, " they have no life in them ;" that is, " there is no salvation appointed any other way ;" Acts v. 12. 3. The blessed God would not deal thus with his chief fa. vourites among mankind, even thewisest, the best, and the holiest of his creatures, to be a sacrifice merely to entertain their rea- sonings and their meditations; but it is designed as the food of their souls, as the life of their spirits, and their hope for eternity ; John vi. 21. 4. Again, God would never have dealt thus with his chosen and favourite people the Jews, through all their generations, to have fed them and pleased them onlywith types and figures, sha- dows and emblems, if they had no substantial blessings contained in them. There were indeed some happy uses appointed con- cerning these types and shadows, in the national church of the Jews, but this was not the chief design of their institution, but it wasto figure out and represent the solid blessings of the gospel, the spiritual and everlasting privileges whichGod designed forall his chosen and savedones. 5. I might add in the last place, God would not deal thus with his holy prophets of the Old Testament, and his-apostles in the New, whetherJews or christians, to make them the ministers of a shewy and shadowy dispensation, which had no substantial and everlastingblessings belonging to it. III. Rem. What a divine and distinguishing blessing is it to us, in this age and this nation, that the doctrine of the pardon of sin, by the atoningblood of the Lamb, has been preached to us from our infancy, and yet continues tobe preached to us by the ministers ofthe gospel ! O blessed be God, that we are not found in those popish nations, where the priests would teach us to trust in masses and penances, in long and idle repetitions of formal prayers in Latin, andmerits of the saints, and useless addresses to them, represented in figures of silver, or gold, wood or stone, or brass, in order to reconcile us to God ; in sprinklings with holy water, and other fooleries, instead of the only appointed sacri- fice of the Son of God ; whereby they make void the blessed gospel of Christ, and overwhelm it with their superstitious in- ventions ! How sad a thing would it be for us, if we were left upon a dying pillow, and liad no other hopes but these to rest our souls upon! Here it may not be improper to give an answer to this objec- tion : 1f this doctrine of the atoning blood of the Lamb that was
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