524 THE SACRIFICE OP CHRIST. been guilty of some violation of the statutes of God, as King of the land, or neglect of his ordinances, that they must slay a lamb or a goat, and burnit upon the altar, that the priest shallmake atonementfor them hereby, and the offence shall beforgiven them? And even if the ruler or any of the common people shall commit a sin through ignorance against the commandmentsof the Lord, they were to lay their hand upon the head of the goat, as a sin- offering ; is not this confessing some iniquity which then came to their knowledge, and transferring it as far as possible upon the head of the animal, and devoting it to death in their stead ? The sin -offering was to be slain before the Lord ; the priest was or- dained to take the blood thereof with his finger, to put it on the horns of the altar, and to pour out the rest at the altar's foot; thefat was to be burned upon the altar, the priest was to make atonement in this manner for the sin that they hadcommitted, and it shall beforgiven them. See Lev. iv, 2.-35. And in the great day of expiation, when an atoning sacrifice was offered for the whole nation to remove their annual guilt, some of the same rites were to he used, the beast was slain and offered to God on the altar, and the blood was carried into the most holy place, and sprinkled before the presence of God, that the blessed God, who dwelt in a visible glory on the mercy-seat, might, as it were, see and accept of the blood or life of other crea- tures in the room of the life of the offending Jews. See Ley, chapters iv. v. vi. and xvi, Thus it is evident, that the design of these bleeding sacrI. fices of atonement, was to show not only that thecriminal deserv, ed death in the sight of God, according to strict and severe jus- tice ; but that God would shewmercy to the criminal, bysparing him upon his confession of sin, .and his repentance, and would accept of the vicarious death of another creature in his stead. This was the plain case and eyident design in the first institution of sacrifices given to Adam after his first sin, and it runs through all the offerings of atonement in successiveages*. I must con- fess, said Paulinus, it has been long my settled opinion, that it was God's original and eternal decree and purpose of making his Son Jesus a proper sacrifice of atonement for the sinsof men, that gave occasion to all the sacrificial rites of atonement, and the sacrificial phrases which wereever used, and were so well known by the patriarchs, and `which were practised by Moses and Aaron andwere established in the Jewish nation, and which indeed were conveyed by Noah to his posterity, though they were dis- mally corrupted in the heathen world. Butto return to Jewish sacrifices. Those who will scarce O See this matter set in a good light by an anonymous author in the trea- tise, entitled, Revetation Examined with coudas', pert I. page 140, &c. who has promised to show how thedeath of Christ eras figured in that covenant Adam, wherrie sactifiees were instituted.
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