(1.) By it Christ is authorized to offer the terms and dispense the benefits of it : Heb. xiii. 20, ' The God of peace, that brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.' That ' blood of the everlasting covenant ' hath a double reference there — to the God of peace, which is
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the title of God : God's wrath was appeased and his justice satisfied by the full recompense which was made for our offences through the blood of the covenant ; so he is the God of peace ; and also to his bringing back Christ again from the dead, as having done his work, and satisfied to the uttermost farthing ; and so God investeth him with his office, as being the great shepherd of the sheep ; that is, a power of saving that which was lost, or recovering the poor stray sheep out of the power of the wolf, that they may be brought again into the pas- ture, and enjoy the privileges of God's flock.
(2.) By this sacrifice the benefits of the new covenant are sealed, ratified, and conveyed to us. As is evident from the words of our Saviour in the institution of the Lord's supper : ' This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you,* Luke xxii. 20 ; or, * This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins,' Mat. xxvi. 28. Wherefore we have the new covenant, the blood confirming this new covenant, which is the blood of Christ, shed for the remission of sins, as the principal blessing of the new covenant ; which promise had been in vain if Christ's blood had not been shed to satisfy divine justice ; so that this is the firm and immutable basis upon which this covenant is fixed, otherwise a cove- nant between God and sinful man had not been stable. So in other places : Zech. ix. 11, 'By the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, in which is no water.' All our deliver- ance Cometh by the covenant, and by the blood of the covenant ; not only as a promised, but as a purchased blessing. It is by the blood of the covenant that we are pardoned, by the blood of the covenant that w^e are sanctified, by the blood of the covenant that we are perfected for ever.
[3.] That our manner of entering or renewing covenant with God is by the same moral acts by which they were conversant about the sacrifices. To understand this, let us see what the sacrifices did import.
(L) They were glasses to represent their misery, and the debt con- tracted by sin. And therefore the apostle calleth them ' the hand- writing of ordinances that was against us, and was contrary to us, Col. ii. 14 : for by the killing of the beast it was testified that they deserved to die themselves. Their sacrifices were a public testification of their guilt, an acknowledgment of the debt rather than an acquittance ; so Heb. X. 3, ' In those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.' And that is the reason why it is said, Ps. li. 17, ' The sacrifices of God are a broken heart.' Every one that offered sacrifice was in a broken-hearted manner to profess and acknowledge that he was worthy to die for his sins. And doth not the same obligation lie upon us, if we would make a covenant with God, by virtue of the great sacri- fice of atonement offered to God for the whole congregation of God's people ? ISurely the curse of the law bindeth us over to eternal wrath. And this must be assented unto, and subscribed by every man's con- science, with much brokenness of heart. Cold thoughts of sin beget but cold thoughts of Christ ; for every man's value and esteem of the remedy is according to his sense of the misery. If we are not deeply affected with our lost condition, Christ is of little use to us. It is the
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contrite and broken heart which doth most reHsh the grace of the Redeemer.
(2.) Sacrifices were figures of the mercy of God and the merit of Christ, viz., of his death and obedience : Heb. ix. 13, 14, ' If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ? ' So Heb. X. 5-7, * Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.' So that the sacrifices were to represent Christ to them, without which they did little else than qualify for legal privileges. Therefore it behoved every one that would make covenant with God to own the promised Messiah, the surety who died for sin, and the great sacrifice of atonement, the Lord Jesus Christ, And is not this incumbent upon us, who would make and renew cove- nant with God ? What is required of us in the eucharist but to bless God for all his mercies, especially the gift of his Son to die for us ? That which was promised and prefigured is now accomplished. Surely the death of Jesus Christ is the only true means of redemption and propitiation for sin, which must be acknowledged with all joy and thankfulness.