THE awful event, which we, this day, commemo⯑rate, is by far the moſt important of any that ever took place upon the theatre of this world.

IT is that which, from the tranſgreſſion of our firſt pa⯑rents, a long line of prophets were commiſſioned to pre⯑dict; which prieſts and ſacrifices were appointed to pre⯑figure, and which the revolutions of empires were con⯑trived to introduce: It is that which reconciled us unto GOD, reſcuing us from the tyranny of ſin and the power of the grave. Yet in the whole goſpel there is nothing againſt which the pride of human reaſon, and the per⯑verſeneſs of human prejudices have more obſtinately op⯑poſed themſelves, than the ſacrifice of the everlaſting and equal SON of GOD as a full, perfect, and ſufficient ſatis⯑faction for the ſins of the whole world.

In the very firſt age of Chriſtianity, and while the precious blood of the world's Redeemer was yet recently ſhed at Jeruſalem, there ſprang up in the church a ſect, which, aſhamed of being the diſciples of one who had been crucified as a malefactor, boldly affirmed that their [6] Maſter had not ſuffered; but that, without taſting death, he was taken up into heaven, whilſt Pilate and the Jews wreaked their impotent malice upon an airy phantom in his ſimilitude.

To theſe heretics, after a few centuries ſucceeded the Impoſtor of Arabia—who, from motives of policy, de⯑nied the ſufferings of CHRIST. The great ſcheme of univerſal redemption commenced with the fall, and its gracious deſign was, by degrees, to reſtore mankind to that ſtate which they had forfeited in Adam.

BUT the ſagacious deceiver well knew that if the death and reſurrection were admitted, that deſign would be ſeen to be completed; and that his own pretenſions of being divinely commiſſioned to cloſe the ſeal of prophecy, and to communicate the laſt offer of mercy and inſtruc⯑tion to lapſed humanity, muſt inſtantly fall to the ground.

WITH an effrontery then peculiar to himſelf, he denied the truth of a fact on which Chriſtians repoſed all their hopes, in which the Jews exulted with malicious triumph, and of which the hiſtory was ſpread over the whole civilized world.

THE ſucceſs of Mahomet is well known, and it is likewiſe known that ever ſince his days the Chriſtian church has been infeſted with a peſtilent race of men, who, though they believe not in the inſpiration of the Koran, and though they deny not the ſufferings of HIM, at whoſe name St Paul directs that every knee ſhould bow, yet do they lay no more ſtreſs on thoſe ſufferings, than upon the ſufferings of Socrates or any other man who has laid down his life in atteſtation of the truth. If the Mahometan denies, like the Phantomiſt of more ancient [7] times, the reality of the death of CHRIST, the Socinian, by denying its efficacy, ſinks it to the level of common martyrdom; and though the fact itſelf be not queſtioned, its end and deſign is, in his creed, totally loſt.

THERE is a living writer, a teacher of the goſpel, and (if you will believe his adherents) a ſincere Chriſtian, who ſupports this horrid hereſy with all his abilities, and who labours to diſſeminate it with aſtoniſhing zeal; whoſe followers are ſcattered all over England, and againſt whom, as they inſinuate themſelves into every company and commonly make their attacks upon the ignorant and the half-learned, every Chriſtian ought to be upon his guard.

AGAINST Socinians, Arians, and all other enemies of the truth, the ſureſt defence will be found to be the ſword of the Spirit, which is the word of GOD. Would mankind take their faith from the holy ſcriptures, and not reſt it upon the unſtable foundation of human ſyſtems, and would no man preſumptuouſly aim at being ‘wiſe beyond what is written,’ hereſies would ſoon va⯑niſh away.

BUT inſtead of purſuing a conduct ſo ſuitable to blind and erring mortals, we find the teachers of Chriſtianity ſplit into a thouſand ſects, and labouring each to ſupport, by every art, and every ſophiſm, the particular tenets of his human leader.

THE followers of Calvin, who ſtyle themſelves the orthodox, moſt unwarrantably preſume to circumſcribe the goodneſs of GOD, when they confidently affirm that, although the ſacrifice upon the croſs made a ſatisfaction of value ſufficient to ranſom a thouſand worlds, yet that however it was not offered for all mankind, but only for [8] the elected few; and that all but thoſe few were ACCOR⯑DING TO THE UNSEARCHABLE COUNSEL OF GOD'S WILL AND FOR THE GLORY OF HIS SOVEREIGN POWER, PASSED BY AND ORDAINED TO DISHONOUR AND WRATH.

Now that any man, who loves his brethren who are upon earth, and entertains juſt notions of his Father who is in heaven, ſhould believe ſuch doctrines as theſe, is abſolutely impoſſible: it is indeed always to be dreaded, leſt he upon whom in early youth theſe tenets have been inculcated as the truths of GOD, ſhould by the proneneſs of mankind to run from one extreme to another, be led in the maturity of age, to deny the efficacy of CHRIST'S death altogether, and to attempt to bring down that ado⯑rable Perſon, from the dignity of the uncreated Redeemer of the world, to the level of an ordinary martyr.

SUCH was the origin and progreſs of the perſon, who is at preſent buſied in perverting the faith of theſe nations. He was educated, he informs us, in the firm perſuaſion that the horrible opinions, which have been enumerated, are the doctrine of the prophets and apoſtles; and without giving himſelf the trouble (as it ſhould ſeem) to inquire whether theſe things be really ſo, he has thought proper, in order to get rid of what in his riper years he finds it impoſſible to believe, to abandon the inſpiration of the Scriptures, and has not ſcrupled to call St Paul an inconcluſive reaſoner.

BUT if we ſearch the bible from Geneſis to the book of St John's Revelation, we ſhall not find any of its in⯑ſpired writers preſuming to ſay what the Almighty could or could not have done. God's ways are indeed often de⯑clared to be ‘paſt finding out,’ but there is enough of [9] them revealed to ſatisfy us, that they are all founded in infinite wiſdom, that they all flow from perfect goodneſs, that he who made us is ‘no reſpecter of perſons,’ that he will have all men to be ſaved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, and that he commendeth his love towards us in that, ‘while were yet ſinners, CHRIST died for us.’

The evangelical prophet teaches that ‘the ſoul of the Meſſiah was made an offering for ſin, that he was wounded for our tranſgreſſions, and bruiſed for our ini⯑quity, that the chaſtiſement of our peace was upon him, and that by his ſtripes we are healed.’ And the great inſtrument of the world's converſion informs us, ‘that GOD, even our Father, hath loved us and given us everlaſting conſolation through grace; that CHRIST alſo hath loved us, and given himſelf for us an offer⯑ing and a ſacrifice unto GOD for a ſweet ſmelling fa⯑vour,’ and St Peter adds that ‘there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we muſt be ſaved.’ Neither Prophets nor Apoſtles pre⯑ſume to limit this great and glorious, and ON GOD'S PART THIS FINISHED, ſalvation to a choſen few: on the contrary, we are expreſsly taught, that our Redeemer ‘gave himſelf a ranſom for all, that he was made a little lower than the angels, that by the grace of GOD he ſhould taſte of death for every man; that the LORD is long ſuffering towards us, not willing that any ſhould periſh, but that all ſhould come to repentance.’ In the volume of inſpiration we learn, concerning the bleſſed Friend of ſinners, ‘that in him dwelleth all the fulneſs of the Godhead bodily,’ and this is a faith⯑ful ſaying (intended to exhilarate alike the hearts of all [10] Adam's ſons) that CHRIST promiſed, JESUS exhibited, came into the world to ſave ſinners, without any exception whatever, whether of perſons or caſes.

SUCH being the infinite love of GOD to mankind in CHRIST JESUS, we cannot wonder that when firſt ma⯑nifeſted to the world, it produced its proper effects, that it put an end to all ſelfiſhneſs and diviſion; and indeed under the real influence, and full belief of this great my⯑ſtery of divine love, there ſeems to be no room left for any thing elſe amongſt Chriſtians, but returns of love to GOD, and emanations of love towards one another.

CHRISTIANITY one would think, needs but to be fairly ſtated in order to its being found worthy of uni⯑verſal acceptation as an act of grace, ſealed with the royal ſignet of heaven, propoſing and providing the Se⯑cond Adam, as a ſecond parent or proxy for lapſed man⯑kind immediately when the firſt Adam had, without our conſent, forfeited the ineſtimable privilege of a glorious immortality. Our holy religion, when attentively conſi⯑dered in this true point of light will ever be found equally comfortable, delightful and intereſting to men of all deſcriptions, every individual of which is on the Chriſtian plan re-admitted to the ſame covenant of grace with GOD that Adam himſelf enjoyed in paradiſe.

PERSONS who meditate with frequency and attention upon theſe glad tidings will not fail to experience their efficacy to fill agreeably the vacuity of human life. When our ſpirits droop, theſe truths of GOD will chear them. When the ſtings of conſcience torment us, if we be truly penitent, they will diſpel our fears, confirm and augment our hopes, diſarm the king of terrors, and will open a joyous proſpect, beyond the grave, into the heavenly [11] Canaan and the new Jeruſalem; in which city of our reconciled Father there are manſions, many manſions, for receiving them ‘who, through faith, and patient continuance in well-doing, ſeek for glory and immor⯑tality.’

THE plain and numerous declarations of holy writ, on this ſubject, militate ſo forcibly againſt the Calviniſt, who denies the univerſality of CHRIST'S ſatisfaction, as well as againſt the Socinian, who denies that ſatisfaction altogether, that it would be aſtoniſhing how either of thoſe ſects ſhould have gained ground in the world, did not daily experience evince that mankind are more ready to torture every thing into an agreement with their own pre-conceived opinions, than to try the truth of thoſe opinions by the word of GOD.

BUT if CHRIST died for all men, why (it may be aſked) have we not reaſon to expect that all men ſhall be ſaved? Is it not detracting from the merits of the great ſacrifice of this day to ſuppoſe that it was offered for any one perſon who ſhall not ultimately reap all the benefits which it was intended to purchaſe? By no means! The obſtinate rejection of CHRIST'S goſpel by an incorrigible ſinner may make him miſerable, but the rejection cannot detract either from the mercy of the Father or from the merits of the Son. There have been inſtances, (and amongſt our own fellow ſubjects and in the paſſing cen⯑tury) of men redeemed from ſlavery, who have yet re⯑fuſed to quit the place of their captivity, and who de⯑feated, though ſurely without leſſening, the beneficence of him who paid their ſtipulated ranſom. It is even ſo with us. The full price of our redemption from ſin and Satan has been paid, but if we refuſe to change our [12] maſters; if we will not accept the glorious liberty of the ſons of GOD, when offered to us ‘without money and without price,’ our ruin muſt be imputed to ourſelves, and not to our merciful Creator, who deſires not the miſery of his creatures, nor to our adorable Redeemer ‘who gave his life a ranſom for all.’

THE firſt great purpoſe for which CHRIST died was to pay the penalty of our firſt parent's tranſgreſſion, to reſ⯑cue us from the everlaſting power of the grave, and to put us anew into a capacity of obtaining and of reliſhing that happineſs, in the next world which is to be conſidered as in ſome ſort the natural effect of holineſs in this.

CHRIST our paſſover, by his own oblation of himſelf once offered, hath without any co-operation of ours, completed this mighty work; for ‘as in Adam all die, even ſo in CHRIST ſhall all, even the wicked as well as the righteous, be made alive;’ but, obſerve, the righteous only ſhall riſe to happineſs.

OUR bleſſed LORD ſuffered to redeem us from death and to purchaſe for us the grace of the goſpel covenant, but it was no part of his deſign, nor is it any part of that covenant, to cancel the eternal obligations of piety and virtue. Theſe were in force before man fell—they are equally in force now that he is redeemed, and by them ſhall we be tried at that great day, for which all other days were made. For tribulation and anguiſh, ſaith the book of truth, muſt be ‘the portion of every ſoul of man that doth evil, of the Jew firſt and alſo of the Gentile.’

SUCH is the nature of the redemption wrought by CHRIST, ſuch the gracious terms of that covenant of mercy, which by his precious bloodſhedding, he hath ob⯑tained [13] for us. This is all that is expreſsly revealed con⯑cerning it, and it is all that we are required to believe.

FROM the diſproportion between a finite and an infi⯑nite mind it ſeems improbable that, even in heaven itſelf, the one ſhould ever be in circumſtances to judge of all the proceedings of the other; becauſe a certain judgment of the juſtice and goodneſs of GOD (any more than of any other governor) cannot be formed from a partial view of his diſpenſations.

CHRIST really was, all that the Moſaic ritual exhi⯑bited in types, and inſtead of having been a ſacrifice only in figure; all the ſacrifices which preceded him were merely figurative of Him.

CHRIST is ſtiled our Paſſover—He is ſaid to have been ſacrificed for us, and we may reaſonably conclude that without a neceſſity for ſuch a proceſs, it would never have exiſted. Now if CHRIST is our Paſſover, His blood muſt do for us what the blood of the paſchal lamb did for the Hebrews in Egypt; but that blood was expiatory, and therefore, ſo is Chriſt's.

BELIEVE not then, I pray you, aſſertions, however confident, that ſuch an atonement was altogether needleſs, and that therefore the paſſages of ſcripture, which ſeem to teach it, are nothing more than metaphorical ex⯑preſſions. But rather reflect that you are taught by uner⯑ring wiſdom concerning the redemption of your ſouls, that it is a myſtery into which even the angels (who ſurely knew more of the divine counſels than the moſt acute Socinian on earth) deſire to look, and do not fully comprehend, and therefore we may well reſt contented with the plain, though narrow view of it, which is laid before us. Prying into this myſtery, like gazing on the ſun, begins in pain, and ends in blindneſs.

[14] IT muſt ſurely be granted, that forgiveneſs of ſin on account of the vicarious ſufferings of our bleſſed LORD is indeed a method admirably calculated at once to repreſs preſumption, to diſcourage men from repeating their tranſ⯑greſſions, to give them a deep ſenſe of the odiouſneſs of ſin, and to convince them of the excellency of the divine laws, and the indiſpenſable neceſſity of paying a willing obedience to them.

IN this diſpenſation ‘mercy and truth are met toge⯑ther, righteouſneſs and peace have kiſſed each other,’ and whilſt a guilty world was received into the divine favour, the moſt awful warning was held out to that world—and, indeed, to the whole intelligent creation, which it was poſſible even for Omnipotence itſelf to give.

IF after having ſeen our Saviour, in the garden, de⯑precating in vain that fearful cup which we had deſerved; if after having beheld him hanging on the croſs, and heard him in the agony of his ſoul crying out, ‘MY GOD, MY GOD, why haſt thou forſaken me?’ If, after all this, we can ſtill continue unmoved, it does not appear probable that we ſhould be perſuaded to forſake our ſins and follow our Saviour, by a proſpect either of the joyful effects of piety, or the miſerable conſequences of guilt; and how, in the name of common ſenſe, can we hope to ‘eſcape wretchedneſs in the extreme, if we neglect ſo great ſalvation.’

WHAT then remains but that (in the ſtrength of our ever-bleſſed Redeemer) we ‘caſt away from us all our tranſgreſſions whereby we have tranſgreſſed, and make us a new heart and a new ſpirit,’ that ſo we may, on the approaching feſtival, receive the holy communion [15] of the body and blood of our Saviour CHRIST, with a full truſt in GOD'S mercy, and with a quiet conſcience.

WHAT ^* remains, but that we ſhould this day ‘return unto the LORD our GOD, for he is gracious and mer⯑ciful, ſlow to anger, and repents him of the evil.’

WE believe, Lord, help thou our unbelief. Father, we have ſinned againſt heaven and before thee, and are no more worthy to be called thy ſons. But thou art the ſame Lord whoſe property is always to have mercy and to forgive, grant us therefore, gracious Lord, whenſoever we approach thy holy table, ſo to eat the fleſh of thy dear Son JESUS CHRIST, and to drink his blood, that our ſinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our ſouls waſhed through his moſt precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us!

Now unto GOD that loved us and hath given us everlaſting conſolation through grace—unto the holy and undivided Trinity—to Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt be aſcribed equal honour by the church militant on earth and triumphant in heaven.