572 THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. of the hearts of every person, to apply his own rules always without mistake. In his divine balance he exactly ponders the weight of every unavoidable prejudice, and everydifficulty from within and without, under which a person labours in hisenquiries after truth. 11e can make just allowances for them all when he decides their state. He surveys also all the exercises of humble dependence on his grace; all the fervent prayers which havebeen offered up by such a -soul for divine light and conduct ; and all these shall be put into the balance in order to judgment: The Lord, the Judge of the whole earth willdo right; Gen. xviii. 25. It is his own work, and he transfers it not to us. VI. Yet still we may venture to assert, that where there are great and constant advantages for light and for acquaintance with the whole christian religion, it is a matter of the utmost hazard to renounce so important and so essential an article of christianity as this of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. A man had need be well assured of his sincerity in searchingafter truth, and that he bas indulged no criminal prejudice, no secret bias of,pas- sion, no warpings of heart by humour or interest, no vain ela- tions of the pride of reason and self-sufficiency ; he had need be very conscious also that he has earnestly sought light and instruc- tion of God, together with his own honest enquiries, and that he has never wilfully neglected or avoided any evidence: I say, a man had need bewell assured of all this, who reads this doctrine daily in his New Testament to plainly expressed and so often repeated there, and yet denies this truth, abandons this refuge of a guilty creature, and renounces this divine hope. A man had need have very bright evidences' of the steady uprightness of his soul in reading the scripture, and seeking the way of sal- vation there, without pride or partiality, who confesses himself a sinful creature, and yet, with the New Testament in his hands, refuses to receive this blessed provision of grace which is there offered, and dares venture into the presence of a holy aqd 1117 avenging God without a propitiation, without a sacrifice. I desire it may be observed here, that several things which I have asserted concerning the propitiation ofthe bloodof Chris` might be also applied to the sanctifying operations of the holy Ghost, but perhaps not in the same degree ; for though I believe these operations to be an essential part of christianity, yet they may not be quite so powerfully pronounced in scripture, or not so largely argued, or not so frequently repeated, as the atone- ment of Christ is, and therefore, perhaps, the necessity of ac- knowledging that doctrine may not be quite so great. I am verily persuaded, and I think there is reason for it in scripture, that no man shall be saved who is not made partaker of both these blessings; nor do I pretend to say which is most necessary to the salvation of met, in the great scheme and counsels of God.
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