intimation in the Scriptures that any are saved without him : on the contrary, it is said, that, " as in Adam all died, so in Christ shall all be made alive." In the temple shown to Ezekiel, there was one door for the prince : it was the door by which the Lord God had entered : and was to be for ever closed to all except the prince ^ So Christ alone enters into heaven by his own merits : to all besides him that door is closed : and Christ alone is the door by which tee must enter in ; he is the only way to the Father : nor, as long as the world shall stand, shall any child of man come unto the Father but by him™.
These things then, especially, as taken in connexion with the many express declarations before quoted, are decisive proofs, that David's account of himself was true, and that it is equally true of all the human race.]
This truth being established, we proceed to mark,
II. The importance of adverting to it in estimating om* state before God —
Unless we bear in mind the total corruption of our nature, we can never estimate aright,
1. Our individual actions — [Even in common courts of judicature, the great object of inquiry is, not so much the act that has been done, as the mind of the agent : and, according as that appears to have been de- praved or blameless, the sentence of condemnation or acquittal is passed upon him. Precisely thus must we judge ourselves in our conduct towards God. To elucidate this part of our subject, we will suppose two persons to have been guilty of the same act of treason towards an earthly sovereign, but to have differed widely from each other in respect of the mind with which they acted : one entered upon it imwittingly, and without any consciousness that he was doing wrong : the other knotvingly, and aware that he was rebelling against his lawful sovereign. One did it reluctantly, through the influence of one whom he could not easily withstand ; but the other willingly, as a volunteer in the service, and as following the impulse of his own mind. One went without premeditation, being taken hastily and off his guard : the other with a Jixed purpose, after much j)lotting and deliberation. In one it was a solitary act, altogether contrary to the whole of his former Kfe : in the other it was frequent, as often as the temptation arose, or the occa- sion offered. The one proceeded tvith moderation, not having his heart at all engaged in it : the other with a fiery zeal, abhorring in his soul the authority he opposed. The one had his mind 02')en to co7iviction, and might easily be prevailed upon
^ Ezek. xliv. 2, 3. "^ John x, 9. and xiv. 0.