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"he, the Lamb of God, which taketh 66 away the sins of the world.' And again, (the same John the Baptist saith) "he that "believeth in the Son hath everlasting life; " and he that believeth not the Son shall "not see life, but the wrath of God abideth 66 on him."*

This was the doctrine maintained by that eminent preacher and prelate, who is now himself, we trust, a worshipper of the Lamb. And this hath been the doctrine of the true Church of Christ from the beginning. the faith of the

Do you inquire what was

holy army of martyrs ?

Hear how they

are described in the book of Revelations : "These are they which came out of great "tribulation, and have washed their robes, " and made them WHITE in the blood of

* John iii. 36. See Bishop Porteus's Lectures; Vol. I, p. 75.

"the Lamb"* Now, there is nothing in this description to intimate that these martyrs depended on their own works, or that they purified their souls by their own sufferings. They did not wash their robes in their own blood; but they "washed their "robes, and made them white in the blood "of the Lamb." It is remarkable, that the first martyr, while he was yet standing upon earth, was permitted to behold the Lamb of God in heaven; as if to shew the world whence it was that every future martyr was to derive strength and constancy in the hour of trial. For, "when the blood "of the martyr Stephen was shed," (as St. Paul expresses itf) he looked up stedfastly to heaven, and said, "I see the heavens

66

opened, and the son of man standing on "the right hand of God."‡

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Let no man expect that he will ever attain to peace of conscience, or to repose of soul, until he come to rest here. It is a view of the cross alone which can give rest. "Come unto ME," saith the Lamb of God, "all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, " and I will give you REST." There are some persons who entertain serious thoughts of religion, who read much and hear much, and yet have no rest. They change their opinions frequently, and feel evidently that they have not in their minds either comfort or stability. First, they have no comfort; they have nothing answering to those consolations of spirit, of which the scriptures speak, and which the experience of good men declares in cases particularly of pain of body, or of domestic affliction. Again, they have no stability in their faith or hope; nothing like that hope, which is said to be "an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast, and

"which entereth into that within the veil." themselves some

They would gladly repose,

where, but they cannot find whereon they may rest as upon a rock. And the reason is this, they are resting on some foundation of their own, and not on "the rock Christ." They admit, perhaps, his sacrifice generally but they look to their own merits, at the same time, comparing themselves with others, who are worse than themselves, and contemplating their own goodness with complacency. And thus they pass on, sometimes to the close of life, till the last solemn hour arrives, and then they are called upon to decide, which is to be their foundation, THEMSELVES or Christ? The deeds which they have done, or the atoning blood which He hath shed? Having bestowed no honour on that propitiation during their life, they have no confidence in it in the hour of death. And thus they contemplate their approaching dis

solution without experiencing any degree of that peace, or triumph of hope, which marks the last moments of the real Christian. They are not able to give to their sorrowing friends any token of their soul's comfort.

Blessed

Blessed are they, my brethren, who, in this life, do honour to " the blood of the "Lamb;" for THEY" shall be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” are they who believing the divine testimony, that the guilty soul must be justified in order to its being saved "from the wrath to come," flee for refuge to HIM" whom "God hath set forth to be a PRO"PITIATION, through faith in his blood, that " he might be just, and the justifier of him "that believeth in Jesus."* And whosoever arrives at a just sense of this salvation, and

* Rom. iii. 25.

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