mitted to the most grievous sufferings, and the most cruel death, as the method ordained in the counsel of heaven for procuring their deliverance from sin. There is no mode of expression that we can devise, which is not employed by Scripture to convey this conception, that the death of Christ was not barely a confirmation of the truth of Christianity, an example of disinterested benevolence and of heroic virtue, but a true sacrifice for sin, offered by him to God the Father, in order to avert the punishment which the sins of men deserved, and to render it consistent with the character of the Deity and the honour of the divine laws, to forgive men their trespasses. "I am the good shepherd," says Jesus; "the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."* "God hath set him forth to be a propi tiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past."+ "We are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." The natural conclusion which any person, whose mind is not warped by a particular system, will draw from these and numberless other expressions of the same kind, is this, that as the scheme for the deliverance of the human race originated from the love of God the Father, so it was accomplished by the instrumentality of that person, who is called in Scripture the Son of God. As the effect of this instrumentality is clearly declared in Scripture, so it is analogous to one part of the divine procedure which we have often occasion to observe. The whole course of human affairs is carried on by alternate successions of wisdom and folly. Evils are incurred, and they are remedied. The good affections or the generosity of some are employed to retrieve the faults or the misfortunes of others: and the condescension and zeal, with which the talents of an exalted character are exerted in some cause which did not properly belong to him, are often seen to restore that order and happiness which the extravagance of vice appeared to have destroyed. The dispensation revealed in the Gospel is the same in kind with these instances, although infinitely exalted above them in magnificence and extent. We see there sin and misery * John x. 11. + Rom. iii. 25. 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. entering into the world by the transgression of one man, the effects spreading through the whole race, and the remedy brought by the generous interposition of a person who had no share in the disaster, whose power of doing good was called forth purely by compassion for the distressed, and, in opposition to all the obstacles raised by an evil spirit, was exerted with perseverance and success, in removing the deformity and disorder which he had introduced into the creation. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."* "He took part of flesh and blood, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage."+ That the interposition of the Son of God was effectual in promoting the purpose for which it was made, and that his death did really overcome that evil spirit, who is styled the prince of this world,‡ was declared by his resurrection, and by the gifts which in fulfilment of his promise were sent upon his apostles after his ascension.§ This is the Scripture proof," that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him."|| So speaks Peter in one of his first sermons.¶ "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him," i. e. Our testimony of his resurrection, confirmed by the witness of the Holy Ghost, is the evidence that God hath exalted him to be a Saviour. He is now, by the appointment of God, the dispenser of those blessings which he died to purchase ;** the Mediator of the new covenant, which was sealed by his blood, and which is established upon better promises,++ of the fulfilment of which we receive perfect assurance from the power that is given to him * 1 John iii. 8. + John xiv. 30. Heb. vii. 25. ** Heb. xii. 2. Heb. ii. 14, 15. § Rom. i. 4. Acts ii. 32, 33. ++ Heb. viii. 4; ix. 12, 15. in heaven and in earth.* Pardon, grace, and consolation, flow from him as their proprietor, who hath acquired by his sufferings the right of distributing gifts to men.t "Being justified by his blood, we have peace with God, and access to the Father through him.”‡ He is now the advocate of his people,§ who appears in the presence of God for them; "who ever lives to make intercession,"¶ and by whom their prayers and services are rendered acceptable.* ** He directs the course of his Providence, so as to promote their welfare, not by abolishing the present consequences of sin, but by rendering them medicinal to the soul:†† and death, which is still allowed to continue as a standing memorial of the evil of sin, shall at length be destroyed by the working of his mighty power, which is able to quicken the bodies that had been mingled with the dust of the earth.‡‡ "I am," says he, "the resurrection and the life."§§ "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth."|||| "Power is given him over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to as many as he will."¶¶ And the crown of life that shall be conferred at the last day upon those for whom it is prepared, is represented in Scripture not as a recompense which they have earned, but as the gift of God through him. "The wages of sin is death; but eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord."*** In this manner the blessings, which that divine Person who interposed for the salvation of mankind is able to bestow, imply a complete deliverance from the evils of sin. "As through one man's offence, death reigned by one, so they who receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ."+++ Hitherto we have confined our attention to the interposition of that Person, who appeared upon earth to save his people from their sins. But we are introduced in the * Matth. xxviii. 18. Rom. v. 1, 2, 9, 11. Eph. ii. 18. || Heb ix. 24. **Rev. viii. 3, 4. Phil. iii. 21. John v. 28, 29. *** Rom. vi. 23. + Ephes. iv. 8. § 1 John ii. 1. Rom. viii. 34. ++ Rom. viii. 28. $$ John iii. 25. ¶¶ John xvii.2. ††† Rom. v. 17. Gospel to the knowledge of a third Person, who concurs in the salvation of mankind; who proceedeth from the Father, who is sent by the Son as his Spirit,* whose power is spoken of in exalted terms,† to whom the highest reverence is challenged, and who, in all the variety of his operations, is one and the self same Spirit, dividing to every one severally as he will.§ One God and Father of all is known by the works of nature: the Son of God is made known by revelation, because the world which he had made stood in need of his interposition to redeem it: and the Spirit is made known by the same revelation, because the benefits of this redemption are applied through his agency. Our knowledge in this way grows with our necessities. We learn how inadequate our faculties are to comprehend the divine nature, when we see such important discoveries superinduced upon the investigations of the most enlightened reason. And we learn also that the measures of knowledge, which the Father of Spirits sees meet to communicate, are not intended to amuse our minds with speculation, and to gratify curiosity, but are immediately connected with the grounds of our comfort and hope. They comprehend all that is necessary for us in our present circumstances. But they may be far from exhausting the subject revealed: and from the very great addition which the revelation of the Gospel has made to our knowledge, it is natural for us to infer that creatures in another situation, or we ourselves in a more advanced state of being, may see distinctly many things, which we now in vain attempt to penetrate. The mode in which the Son and the Spirit subsist, and the nature of their connexion with the Father, however much they have been the subject of human speculation, are nowhere revealed in Scripture. But the offices of these persons, being of infinite importance to us, are revealed with such hints only of their nature, as may satisfy us that they are qualified for these offices. We have seen the office of the Son in the redemption of the world, the right which he acquired by his perfect obedience and suffering to dispense the blessings of his *John xv. 26. 2 Cor. iii. 17, 18. + Acts iv. 31, 33. Heb. ix. 14; x. 29. Rom. viii. 11, 26. §1 Cor. xii. 4-11. purshase. It is in the dispensation of those blessings that the office of the Spirit appears. This office commenced from the earliest times: For he spake by the mouth of all the holy prophets, who prophesied, since the world began, of the sufferings of Christ, and of the glory that should follow.* To his agency the miraculous conception of the Son of man is ascribed. He descended upon Jesus at his baptism :‡ he was given to him without measure during his ministry ;§ and after his ascension he was manifested in the variety and fulness of those gifts which distinguished the first preachers of Christianity. But all these branches of the office of the Spirit, so necessary for confirming the truth, and for diffusing the knowledge of the Christian religion, were only the pledges of those ordinary influences, by which the same Divine Person continues in all ages to apply the blessings which are thus revealed. The ordinary influences of the Spirit are represented in Scripture as opposed to all those circumstances in the present condition of human nature, which indispose men for receiving such a religion as the Gospel. Thus you read, that "the natural man receiveth not the things of God; they are foolishness to him, because they are spiritually discerned." But the spirit of wisdom and revelation is given to Christians, that "the eyes of their understanding being enlightened, they may know what is the hope of their calling."** You read, that "the carnal mind is enmity against God, and cannot be subject to his law: But they that are led by the Spirit, mind the things of the Spirit."++ You read of a complacency in their own righteousness, which prevents many from submitting themselves to the righteousness of God.‡‡ But the Spirit casts down every high thought which exalteth itself."§§ In all this there is nothing contrary to the reasonable nature of man. We have daily experience of the influence which one mind has over another, by presenting objects in the light best fitted to command assent and conviction, by suggesting forcible motives, by over-ruling objections, by addressing every generous principle, and exciting every * 1 Pet. i. 11. ** Ephes. i. 17, 18. ++ Rom. viii. 5, 7. ‡‡ Rom. x. 3. §§ 2 Cor. x. 5. |