Now unto him that loved us, and washed us from our fins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God; to him, together with the Father and the Holy Ghoft, three Perfons, and one God, be glory and dominion, for ever and ever. Amen. SERMON VII. JOHN XV. 3. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. T HE defign of religion is to improve mankind in their duty to God. The defign of the Chriftian religion is to reform finful men, and to affift them in their duty through the mediation and interceffion of Christ. Whilft it holds up the mirrour to nature, and fhews us our weakneffes and infirmities, our holy religion exhibits the strongest averfion to voluntary errors, and will have no refidence with fin. It hath through wonderful mercy provided against our mistakes and frailties, difcovered a deliverance from the confequences of them, and destroyed the P 2 whole whole body of death for us by the facrifice and expiatory atonement of the cross. By this unspeakable gift of God in Christ, the hope of former ages has been accomplished, the ransom paid, the juftice of God satisfied, the act of free grace paffed, the debt cancelled, and the repenting finner restored to a capacity of the highest favour, Great indeed is the confolation, with which the minds of fallen men must be filled, from a conviction of fuch a pardon for fins past but it would ftill be clouded with doubt, if not fink back into defpair, were there no farther hopes that the body of fin might be destroyed in us; fo that we should no longer be fubject to its dominion, or at leaft be flaves to the lufts thereof. Even reafon must convince thofe, who enjoyed no better light than that of nature, that a juft and righteous God could never delight in any thing that continued unholy or impure; that fin must always be repugnant to his nature; and that, unless the finner fhould become renewed or changed, he could not be accept able able to him," who is far separated from fro"ward thoughts, and will not abide where unrighteousness entereth "." 66 In the times before the Gofpel it was expected, that there would be a fountain opened for fin and for uncleanness; which fountain was not only to wash away the 'guilt thereof, but also to wipe out its ftain. But the generations of old did not enjoy that comfortable affurance which is held forth to us, on whom the light of the Gospel hath shined, and who are acquainted with the whole tenour of this embaffy of peace. The glad tidings of which not only announce, that fin is fubdued for us by the facrifice of Chrift's death, but that it will alfo be fubdued in us by the riches of his grace. The blood of Christ hath paid the penalty, and cleansed us as an expiation; but as a confequence of this, it must be the word and fpirit of Chrift, that must purge our confciences from dead works, and enable them to ferve, so as to be finally a Wifd. i. 3, 5. b Zech, xiii. 1. P 3 accepted |