Such is clearly the import of these phenomena : we now come,
II. To shew the improvement we should make of them —
Here we might suggest many things ; but for brevity's sake we shall confine ourselves to two, which are particularly suggested by the holy Apostle. We should,
1 . Receive and honour the dispensation which God has introduced —
[Consider the nature of that dispensation which pre- ceded it; how dark, how unsatisfactory, how burthensome!
Compare with it the dispensation under which we
live, a dispensation of light and liberty, of peace and joy
See the two contrasted by the Apostle^; and then
hear him declaring the abolition of the one, and the establish- ment of the other, and prescribing our duty in reference to that which we are privileged to enjoy ^: hear too the argument with which he enforces an obedient attention to it: He re- minds us of the judgments which fell on Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, for refusing to comply with God's former appoint- ments, which were carnal and earthly, and appeals to us respecting the impossibility of our escaping, if we disregard those which are spiritual and heavenly, since God, at this
i Gal. iii. 28. " Heb. xii. 18—24. i Heb. xii. 25—29.
time, no less than formerly, is, to those who offend him, " a consuming fire"^." Comply then with the commands of God, and "receive not the grace of' God in vain," Only remember wherein the main difference between the two dispensations consists : the one consisted altogether of forms and shadows ; the other contains the substance : in the one, the sacrifices were beasts of the field, and the priests who offered them were guilty creatures like ourselves; in the other, Christ is our Sacrifice, and our great High Priest ; and in his mediation and intercession must be all our salvation and all our hope. The earthquake shook the whole legal fabric, and removed it all, so that the Church is liberated from all its observances : in like manner must all legal principles be removed from us ; and the freedom granted to the Church, must be realized in our hearts
In a word, we must be *' new creatures in Christ
Jesus : old things must pass away, and all things must be- come new."]
2. Avail ourselves of the liberty which he has con- ferred upon us —
[God invites us all to come to him without fear : He says,
" Draw nigh to me, and I will draw nigh to you"
But here is the difficulty. To be outward-court worshippers is easy enough : but to get within the veil, to approach God as seeing him that is invisible, to pour out our souls before him, to ask with a full assurance of obtaining whatsoever we stand in need of; to live in the habit of such intercourse with him as enables us to say, " Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ;" this requires continual watch- fulness and unintermitted exertion. Yet this is the state to which we ought to aspire. The Apostle, after having, in a fore-cited passage, told lis, that we have " boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh ; and having an High Priest over the house of God;" adds, " Let us draw near with a true heart; in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience "." This is the glorious privilege to which we are brought. None need to stand at a distance : the golden sceptre is held out equally to all ; and " we may ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us." We are all, without excep- tion, " a royal priesthood ,•" he who " hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, hath also made us kings and priests unto our God°." Let none then stand at a distance as unworthy to approach him, but let us go even to his throne, and " open our mouths wide that he may fill them" ]