the more unfeignetlly will he hewail his manifold transgressions f. While, with Mary, he boldly confesses Christ, with her he will kiss his feet, and wash them with his tears g.]
III. The fruit and benefit of it to his soul —
[No sooner was the ordinance before us duly performed, than the sins of all Israel were taken away, and God was re- conciled to his offending people. This indeed being only a typical institution, the pardon obtained by means of it was neither perfect nor durable, except to them who looked through the type to Christ himself. But faith in Christ, whe- ther exercised by them or us, will obtain a full and everlasting remission of all our sins. Under the law indeed, there were some sins for which no sacrifice was appointed, and which therefore could not be purged away by any ceremonial obla- tions whatever. But there is no sin from which we shall not be justified by faith in Jesus h. From the very instant that we are enabled to lay them upon his head, they shall be carried into the land of oblivion, and never more be remembered against us1: yea, they shall be cast into the very depths of the seak, and be put away from us far as the east is from the west1.]
From hence we may learn,
1. The different offices of repentance and faith —
[Repentance can never make atonement for sin. How- ever penitent we be, we must lay our hands upon the head of the scape-goat, and transfer our guilt to him. On the other hand, faith does not supersede repentance, but rather encourages and invites us to it. We must repent, in order to prepare our hearts for a grateful acceptance of pardon, and a diligent im- provement of it in our future life : but we must believe in order to obtain pardon ; that being bestowed solely on account of Christ's vicarious sacrifice. Repentance stirs us up to exer- cise faith on Christ ; and faith stimulates us to further acts of penitence, for the honouring of the law, the justifying of God, the exalting of Christ, the purifying of the heart, the adorning of our profession, and the rendering of us meet for glory. To be in a state pleasing to God, we must be believing penitents, and penitent believers.]
2. The folly of delaying to repent and believe —
[Impenitence and unbelief keep us from Christ, and rivet our sins upon us. We must all resemble either the oblation, or the offerer : we must either, like the goats, die under the wrath of God, and be for ever banished, as accursed creatures,
f Ezek. xvi. 63. e Luke vii. 37, 38. h Acts xiii. 39.
1 Isai. xliii. 25. Heb. viii. 12. k Mic. vii. 19. * Ps. ciii. 12.