ing. The prophets of Baal were to take and cut in pieces a bullock, and lay it on wood, "and put no fire under." "1," said Elijah, "will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. And call ye upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord; and the God that answereth by fire let him be God. And all the people answered and said it is well spoken." The prophets of Baal made preparation accordingly, "and called upon the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us! But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made-And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner, with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them." They continued their exertions until it was found "that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded." Then Elijah took his turn, and made preparation for his sacrifice. "And he repaired the altar which was broken down." And he put all things in order, "and said, Pour four barrels of water on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord, and that thou hast turned their hearts back again. THEN THE FIRE OF THE LORD fell and consumed the burnt-sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God."* It appears to me that no one can suppose, that the fire of the Lord which consumed Elijah's

Kings, xviii.

burnt-sacrifice, was the fire of divine wrath; but that every one, who candidly attends to the subject, will view it as expressive of divine love; and toward Elijah and the people of God, it was a most striking manifestation of divine grace and mercy.

It was the love of God which sent Jesus Christ into the world; it was the love of God which delivered him up for us all; and it was the same divine love which consumed him as a lamb for sacrifice; who, through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, to redeem us from sin, and to save us from everlasting death, the wrath which is to come.

When God makes use of fire to express his indig nation towards his enemies, and his determination to destroy them, it is the fire of wrath; but when it is used to express favour to his people, and as a defence against their enemies, it is the fire of love. Hence, in the latter day glory of the people of Israel, it is said that Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, for the multitude of men and cattle therein." "For I," saith the Lord, "will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." Zech. xi, 15.

Being provoked with the Prophet Elijah, Ahaziah the king sent a captain with fifty men to take him; finding him on the top of a hill, the captain said unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. And Elijah answered and said to the Captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy filty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty: and he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. And Elijah answered and said unto him, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. He sent

again a captain of the third fifty, with his fifty: But through the interposition of this captain the fire was stayed. 2 Kings i. Thus God can make use of fire for the destruction of his enemies, or for the salvation of his own people. The one is the fire of divine wrath, and the other the fire of divine love. And when God was about to take this beloved prophet to heaven without dying, he sent a chariot of fire, and horses of fire: which was an expression of love, and not of wrath.

Being determined upon the life of the prophet Elisha, the king of Syria sent a great host to fetch him: and they came by night and compassed the city about. But no fear fell upon Elisha, for he was surrounded with horses and chariots of fire. 2 Kings vi. Hence, the fire of God will protect or destroy; it is the fire of wrath to his enemies, but a wall of protection round about those who fear him.

The fire on God's altar which was ever kept burning, was typical of the purifying blood of Christ. This typical fire, when properly applied, would cleanse from all iniquity. Of this we have a clear illustration in the case of Isaiah, when he saw the Lord, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, whose train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim, who are represented as crying one to another, and saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." In a view of this glorious exhibition of the purity of the Lord of hosts, the prophet said of himself, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. In this situation of things, what shall be done to console and comfort the mind of the prophet, under a sense of his vileness and extreme pollution? See what follows. "Then," says he, "flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from

off the altar; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Isaiah vi.

This purifying fire of the Lord, taken from the altar of God, by the hand of a holy angel, and applied to the Prophet, bewailing his moral uncleanness, availed to take away his iniquity, and to purge him from his sin. This being the case, who can suppose that the fire upon the altar was the fire of divine wrath? Was it not evidently the fire of divine love, expressing the grace and mercy of God, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

25

SERMON XVIÍ.

THE DOCTRINE OF SUBSTITUTION NOT A BIBLE DOCTRINE.

EZEKIEL Xviii, 2, 3, 4.

What mean ye that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall noť have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, All souls are mine, as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

7. REDEMPTION from sin, by the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, does not suppose "that he substituted himself in the place of sinners, and died in their room and stead, or that he obeyed the law for them."

Some Writers on the Doctrine of Atonement, seem to have no small fondness for the idea, that Christ suffered and died in the room and stead of the sinner. Some of them are as fond of the idea, that Christ obeyed the divine law in the sinner's room and stead. They say that Christ suffered the penalty, and obeyed the precepts of the divine law, in the room and stead of the sinner.

It is abundantly asserted in the word of God that Christ suffered and died for sinners. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. For when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sinsAnd not only for our sins, but for the sins of the