252 'A CAVEAT AGAINST INFIDELITY. man comes to the Father but by him ; John xiv. 6. And he bid his disciples preach the gospel to every creature, he bid them not only tell the world, that he that believeth shall be saved, but that he that believeth not shall be damned; Markxvi. 16. Here let it be noted also, that we are not called to trust in Christ only as a Mediator, to intercede or plead for us, though this is part of his appointed work ; Ileb. vii. 25. but we must receive him also as one who made propitiation or atonement for sin. This is called in Rom. v. 11. receiving the atonement. For he becomes Our pro- pitiation through faith in his blood; Rom. iii. 25. And if we sin wilfully by a public obstinate rejection of him, under his cha- racter of a sacrifice of atonement, I fear we shall find that there remains no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expecta- tion of God's fiery indignation to devour ùs; Bela. x. 26, 27. This text seems tome to carry a solemn terror in it against those who pretend to be christians, and yet dare to deny that Christ made a proper atonement for sin by his death, since this doctrine of atonement for sins by the blood of Christ is so often and so expressly asserted in-the word of God *. You see then, that trust in a Mediator, and in the mercy of God manifested through him, is a necessary part of our religion. This is that faith in Christ which is foretold so plainly in the Old Testament, that in him should the Gentiles trust. This is repre- sented so often in the New Testament, as the great requisite of salvation, viz. the belief of Jesus Christ the Son of God to be the only Mediator between God and man, and a trusting in the mercy of God in and through this Mediator, a committingthe soul into his hands, as a Lord and Saviour from sin and from hell : And it is called faith in his blood, to chew that we must trust in him particularly, as a Mediator of atonement. This is that faith of Christ that St. Paul preached wheresoever he preached the duty of repentance,as a necessary attendant of it, in order to a sinner's acceptance with God. Acts xx. 20, 21. Publicly, and from house to house he taught the Ephesians, and he testified both to the ,Jews and Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. V. A constantsincere pursuit of universal holiness, andper- severance therein till the hour of our death. This is also neces- sary in order to our arrival at heaven. We are entered into a race, when we are first converted, and set Our faces toward hea- ven ; we must:not turn backward, lest we lose the prize: We must keep the path of duty with sincerity and diligence, and, in this manner, we must run through the whole stage of life, till we reach the goal, of death, if we would obtain the glorious crown of righteousness. It is true the gospel does not suppose or expect, se I danot tarry here to enlargeon the proof of the atonement of Christ for sin, having sufficiently proved it in my sermons upon Rem. iii. 25. See volume the first, sermons xxxiv. xxsv. xxxvi.pace 415, &n.
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