guilt, by his own sufferings unto death ? What would he wish to add to this ? What can, by any possibility, be added to it ? If this be not sufficient, what can be ? His sins, even though they were as numerous and heinous as those of Manasseh himself, are but finite : whereas the atonement offered for him is of value infinite ; yes, and the righteousness wrought out for him is also of value infinite. We are told expressly that "the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse from all sinm ;" and that " all who believe in him shall be justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses"." Let a man's sins be of ever so deep a dye, even " though they were red as scarlet or as crimson, they shall be made white as snow0." We can scarcely conceive of greater guilt than that of David, after all the mercies that had been vouchsafed to him, and all the profes- sion of piety which he had made ; and yet he prays, " Purge me with hyssop, and / shall be clean ; wash me, and /shall be whiter than snowp:" and then he acknowledges the efficacy of this remedy, saying, " Thou hast made the bones which thou hast broken to rejoice q." The instances in the New Testament of the efficacy of the Gospel to comfort a believing soul, are numberless. Behold the three thousand on the day of Pentecost, whose hands were yet reeking with the Saviour's blood : scarcely had they believed in Christ one hour, before they all " ate their bread with gladness and singleness of heart, blessing and praising Godr." Wherever Christ was preached, great joy sprang up in the hearts of those who heard the word8. And is it not so at this day? What " though we do not see Christ, yet we love him ; and, believing in him, we rejoice with joy unspeakable, and glorified1." This is declared to be the invariable effect of the Gospel throughout the whole world : " Sing, O ye heavens ; for the Lord hath done it : shout, ye lower parts of the earth ; break forth into
m 1 John i. 7. n Acts xiii. 39. ° Isai. i. 18.
p Ps. li. 7. i Ps. li. 8. r Acts ii. 46, 47.
s Acts viii. 5, 8. '1 Pet. i. 7, 8.