the altar ; and lay our hands upon the head of our offering ; and look for pardon solely through the atoning blood of Jesus. The fire, too, was for the daily use of all. And daily, yea, and hourly, have all of us occasion to come to God in the same way. There is not an offering that we present to God, but it must be placed on his altar : and then oidy can it ascend with a sweet smell before God, when it has undergone its appointed process in that fire.]
2. That the sacrifices under the Law are insuffi- cient for us —
[Thousands and myriads of beasts were consumed on God's altar ; and yet the fire continued to burn, as unsatisfied, and demanding fresh victims. Had the offerings already pre- sented effected a complete satisfaction for sin, the fire might have been extinguished. But the repetition of the sacrifices clearly shewed, that a full atonement had not yet been offered. In fact, as the Apostle tells us, they were no more than " re- membrances of sins made from year to year ;" and " could never take away sin," either from God's register of crimes, or from the conscience of the offender himself0. Thus, under the very Law itself, the insufficiency of the Law was loudly pro- claimed ; and the people were taught to look forward to a better dispensation, as the end of that which was, after a time, to be abolished.]
3. That God would in due time provide himself a sacrifice, with which he himself would be satisfied —
[From the beginning, God had taught men to look for- ward to a sacrifice which should in due time be offered. It is probable that the beasts, with whose skins our first parents were clothed, were by God's command first offered in sacrifice to him. We are sure that Abel offered in sacrifice the first- lings of his flock : and it is probable that fire was sent from heaven, as it certainly was on different occasions afterwards, to consume it : and that it was this visible token of God's acceptance of Abel's sacrifice, that inflamed the envy and the rage of Caind. From Noah's offerings, also, "God smelled a sweet savour," as shadowing forth that great sacrifice which should in due time be offered e. To Abraham the purpose of God was marked in a still more peculiar manner. He was commanded to " take his son, his only son, Isaac," and to offer him up upon an altar, on that very mountain where the Temple afterwards was built, and where the Lord Jesus Christ himself was crucified. The fire, therefore, that was burning upon the altar, and the wood with which it was kept alive,
c Heb. x. 1 — 4, 1 1 . and ix. 9. ll Gen. iv. 1,5. " (jen# viii. 20, 21 .