OW complete is the atonement which the gospel of Christ reveals! The work of a perfect Being, and perfect, like its Divine Author, it requires no addition; it endures no compromise with the officiousness of human vanity and pride; it admits of no improvement by the wisdom of the world. Like the sun in heaven--which is unapproachable, yet comes to us in light, and life, and joy; which imparts its blessings to the wide-spread earth, but can receive therefrom no addition to its beams--the atonement accomplished by the Redeemer, while it shines forth in all the effulgence of the divine philanthropy for the salvation of man, remains alone in its completeness, and while it bestows [78] its saving mercies, can receive no augmentation of its efficacy from human works of righteousness.

      Yet, ah! how unwilling is the human heart to acknowledge its entire dependence upon the divine mercy! How prone is the unenlightened mind to seek some means of participating in the divine work! How apt is human pride to whisper to the soul that its own efforts have gained, at least in part, its own redemption! For what are the cruel rites of heathenism to placate offended idols; what the penance and mortifications of Catholic superstition to atone for sins, or the presumptuous prayers of misguided enthusiasm, supposed to render God propitious to the sinner, but various forms and applications of the fundamental error, that man is or can be more willing to be saved than God to save him; that he has something more to do than simply to accept forgiveness, and must perform some work in aid of the divine means of salvation? Alas! it is when grace superabounds on the part of Heaven, that man is most wanting to himself! It is when the religion of love is freely offered for his [79] acceptance that he prefers the self-imposed cruelties of an exacting superstition!

      Man meddles with the divine arrangements, but to mar them. His touch defiles what is clean, his ignorance impairs what is perfect, his perversity embitters and empoisons every divine fountain of happiness. God bestowed life, but man has mingled it with death and made it mortal. The Creator made man upright, but man has corrupted himself by his inventions. Jehovah wrought wonders in the earth and gave his statutes to Israel, but his people "forgat his works, and waited not for his counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert, until he gave them their request, and sent leanness into their soul."

      But God is "the Rock; his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." And, oh! what infinite goodness appears in all his dealings with men, whether in nature or religion! How has he ever connected enjoyment with the use of the means required for life, and rendered even pain tributary to pleasure! How sweet it is to [80] breathe the balmy air around us! How grateful the exercise of a function so indispensable to existence! How delightful to him that is hungry the food by which he is sustained! How pleasant to him that is athirst the cool waters of the fountain! Every-where in nature man finds supplied to him the means of pleasure in the means of life, and is led by desire to fulfil the conditions of his being. He can create nothing, he can impart no quality of excellence, he can improve no divine method. He can but receive, accept, enjoy what God has formed and perfected for his use.

      And is it not also in religion that man can only accept the divine mercies, and that he shall be led to their acceptance by an awakened desire for that spiritual blessedness which they impart? Can human reason improve upon the divine plan of salvation, or man's feeble powers add efficacy to the means of spiritual renovation which God has instituted? What can be conceived superior to the gospel, in all its impartations of present and eternal blessedness! Here there is no poverty, no deficiency, no feebleness. In it are the [81] riches, the perfections, the power of God. The forgiveness which it proffers is plenary, the spiritual enjoyments which it confers are unspeakable, the life which it secures is eternal! And that pardon, that joy, that eternal life are not the posted and ledgered dues for labor performed or services rendered, but the unmerited favors of infinite mercy and love--the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

      In the gospel feast, all things are prepared by the King of heaven, and the sinner furnishes no part of the entertainment. In accepting the divine invitation he has but to comply with the established usages of the banquet, and enjoy the rich provisions so bountifully supplied. But, oh! how often do the proud and the rebellious attempt to intrude themselves in contemptuous neglect of the appointed rules of decorum, and without the robes appropriate to the occasion! How prone is the perverse and stubborn heart to betray its vain self-will by presuming to modify or disregard the arrangements of the Most High! And how often does the thankless hypocrite assume a seat at the festal board for base and selfish ends, [82] without the least perception of the spiritual nature of the repast, or the slightest relish for the "true bread of heaven!"

      It is that spiritual discernment, that earnest desire, possessed by the true believer, which ever leads him to these blessed sources of spiritual enjoyment. It is because he is athirst for the water of life that he approaches these living fountains. It is because he hungers after righteousness that he seeks this celestial food. He needs no artificial stimulants to quicken his spiritual appetite, and desires to mingle no foreign ingredients with the heavenly manna by which alone he lives forever. That blissful enjoyment which God himself has connected with the use of the means of spiritual life, wherever spiritual health exists, will ever lead him to the divine repast by which the soul is invigorated and refreshed. And that infinite perfection which every-where marks the arrangements for the salvation of men, will secure the accomplishment of every divine purpose, and the fruition of every glorious hope. [83]

[CITS 78-83]