246 THE ATONtJIENT oli CnRIST MANIPESTÉD. slain be so glorious in itself, and so needful to our salvation, how comes it to pass that our Saviour speaksso little ofit in the whole of his ministry, while he was three years preachingamong the towns of the Jews. Answer. Seea large and full answer to this objection in my sermon on the Atonement of Christ ; (VOL. L) and further answers are repeated in my treatise of Orthodoxy and Charity united, in the three last pages of the First Essay of the Substance andMatter of the Gospel. Another objectionmay be raisedhere : If this doctrine be so glorious, and so very needful, How comes it topass, that it is so much neglected among men that profess christianity ; and that menwho believe it areno more affected withit ? Answer. 1. Though a thing be never so useful and neces- sary, yet the mere commonness of these things sometimes is an unhappy occasion of rendering them less regarded, and less at- tended to. These glories and wonders of the gospel of Christ have run over our thoughts and over our tongues so many thou- sand times, without that due solemnity which becomes them, and 'without those awful ideaswhich those things require, that our na- tures are notmuchmoved by the importance of them. Though these truths arein themselves so divine, so awful and solemn, yet, alas ! they are lost upon our passions, and they make no powerful impression there ; they awaken no serious meditations, neither at the timepresent nor afterwards. 2. Mankind do not keep upon their minds a deep sense of sin; the-impressions that the convincing spirit sometimesmakes, vanish away fromtheirconsciences, and thenecessity and the glory of this way of salvation too soon vanishes off from our thoughts, because we are not rightly and steadily apprehensivewhat an in- finite evil is contained in the nature of sin ; and therefore the me- thods of pardoning mercy and forgiving grace lie with so little weight upon our spirits : The sacrifice of Christ, how exceeding precious soever it is to an awakened and convinced sinner, yet it little affects the meditations of those who have not a lively sense of sin maintained upon their spirits : When sin lies with a weight upon the soul, it awakens many a bitter sigh and groan; and a review of the method of atonement appointed by the great God, in the blood of Christ, rendersthe remembrance of it very plea- sant andaffecting. Let us therefore endeavour with all diligence to preserve a deep sense of the evil of sin, as committed against the infinite-Majesty of heaven, always upon our consciences, that the blood of Jesus may be ever precious unto us: We soon for- get the vile aggravations with which our sins are attended ; and therefore the way of forgiveness makes so little impression upon our souls. 3. There are few christianswho keep the love of Christ ac- tive and warns enough in their hearts, to give them any deep
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