who have the blood of the everlaſting covenant to plead in all our approaches to the throne of grace?Having therefore ſuch an high prieſt; having, in his Croſs unſearchable riches; who ſhall make our glorying void: what ſhall hinder us from rejoicing and ſaying, Bleſſed be God for theſe opening beauties of ſpring! Bleſſed be God for the expected fruits of autumn! Bleſſed be God for ten thouſand thouſand gifts of his indulgent providence! but above all, bleſſed be God for the Croſs of Chriſt!
As miniſters of the goſpel, we are not left to ſet before ear hearers a ſyſtem of refined heatheniſm; or to entertain them with cold, ſpiritleſs lectures of virtue. No; we have the infinitely tender love, the immenſely free grace, of the bleeding, dying Immanuel, to diſplay, to improve, to enforce. And is there a topic in the whole compaſs of oratory, is there an argument amidſt all the ſtores of reaſon, ſo admirably calculated to touch the fineſt movements of the ſoul? to ſtrike all the inmoſt ſprings of action, with the moſt perſuaſive, the moſt commanding energy?— Would we alarm the ſupine, or intimidate the preſumptuous? we may call them to behold God’s own Son weltering in blood. God’s own Son transfixed with the arrows of juſtice: we may bid them conſider, if judgment begins with the immaculate Mediator, where ſhall the irreclaimable ſinner appear? how will he eſcape the ſtroke? how bear the weight of God’s everlaſting vengeance?— Would we comfort the diſtreſſed? we may point them to an atonement, whoſe merits are infinite, and able to ſave to the very uttermoſt: we may lead them to a righteouſneſs, whoſe efficacy is unbounded, and ſufficient to juſtify the ungodly. And what balm can be ſo ſovereign for a wounded conſcience?— Are we to ſupport the weak, and
