remembered with gratitude to all eternity-was their atoning character: he died for the sins of many. His sufferings were designed to expiate guilt; and as was their design, so is their efficacy. Other sorrows never blotted out one sin; these have blotted out millions of sins, and will blot out millions more.

This truth is taught in many passages, partly referring to the design of his death, and partly to its effect; but all representing t as vicarious, or borne for others, and bringing blessings to them. In general, it is declared that his humiliation and poverty were endured with the design of enriching sinful men;-though rich, he became poor, that they, through his poverty, might be rich, 2 Cor. viii. 9. Advancing to something more specific, it is declared that he was given for men, and died for them. The Father gave his only begotten Son; Christ died for us; we judge if one died for all, then were all dead, John iii. 16; Rom. v. 6–8; 2 Cor. v. 14; Eph. v. 25; Heb. ii. 9. Still more expressly it is asserted, that he suffered for the sins of men, as a substitute in the place of the guilty: "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ;""He bare the sin of many; was made "sin for us ;"" was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification," Isa. liii. 5, 12; 2 Cor. v. 21; Rom. iv. 21. We are further taught that he was thus delivered as "an offering and a sacrifice to God," Eph. v. 2. Thus, as a sacrifice, Christ bore the sins of many: "His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree," 1 Pet. ii. 24. To bear sin signifies to bear punishment on account of sin, Num. xiv. 33; Ezek. xviii. 20. Christ bore his sufferings as the punishment of sin, and was made a curse for us, Gal. iii. 13.

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The offering that Jesus thus made of himself is further described as a ransom, 1 Tim. ii. 5; Mark x. 45. A ransom, as is shown in Exod. xxi. 30; Numb. xxxv. 31, was a price paid to save the forfeited life of a condemned criminal. Thus Christ

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gave himself and his life as a ransom to atone for our sins, and redeem our condemned souls from condemnation. In doing this, though he knew no sin, he was treated as if he had been the chief of sinners, and thus was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him," 2 Cor. v. 21. A very early Christian writer, referring to the love of God, impressively remarks: “Himself gave his own Son a ransom for us; the holy for the lawless; the harmless for the wicked; the just for the unjust; the incorruptible for the corruptible; the immortal for the mortal. For what else could cover our sins besides his righteousness? In whom was it possible that wc, the lawless and the unholy, could be justified save by the Son of God alone? Oh sweet exchange! Oh unsearchable wisdom! Oh unexpected benefit! that the sins of many should be hidden by One righte

The views thus furnished of the design of the Lord's sufferings are further confirmed in the effects ascribed to his death. He is our Passover, 1 Cor. v. 7. When God visited Egypt by the death of the first-born in every family, all in a house sprinkled with the blood of the paschal lamb were safe, Exod. xii. 13. So is Christ the Passover of his redeemed; sheltered from wrath by an interest in his atonement, they are safe-safe for eternity. Healing is ascribed to his sufferings: "With his stripes we are healed," Isa. liii. 5. Deliverance from the curse of the broken law, and redemption from condemnation, are through his blood, Gal. iii. 13; Col. i. 14. The complete pardon of all sin, as no longer charged to the believing soul, is ascribed to his blood, 1 John i. 7; Heb. i. 2, 3; which is so efficacious, that he "obtained" for his redeemed "eternal redemption," Heb. ix. 12; which sanctifies for ever, and has everlasting efficacy, Heb. x. 14. Justification, and the enjoyment of Divine favour are traced to the same source, Rom. v. 9; Isa. liii. 11. From the same fountain flow joy and peace with God, and ultimately glorious heavenly perfection, Rom. v. 1, 11; Eph. v. 25, 27.

Take one other view; look up to the heavenly world, read the description, Rev. vii. 9-17, and observe all these delightful truths confirmed there. What behold you? A multitude which no man can number, all holy, happy, and triumphant. How reached they that world of light? Not by their own sufferings, though many were martyrs; not by their virtues, their holy zeal, their unconquered firmness, their glowing love; but they "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Their Christian excellences attested the reality of their faith; but yet they entered heaven as sinners saved by the death and righteousness of their beloved Lord. How efficacious is that blood, which has thus washed away the sins of numbers countless as the dewdrops of the morning, and whose efficacy reached backwards to the beginning of time, and extends forward to its close. The sorrows of Jesus are filling heaven with happy beings, and will fill it with everlasting praise, Rev. v. 12.

Reader! the subject you have now considered is one of everlasting importance to you. It will concern you long after the fleeting years of life shall end, long after you are forgotten in the grave. If you are saved, it will fill your soul with thankfulness in heaven; if lost, it will deepen your remorse in hell. A mere head knowledge of these truths will avail you nothing. What you need is, believing from the heart on the Son of God. Look unto Jesus as having borne your sins and carried your sorrows. Commit your soul, and yield yourself to him; and he who died for you will fulfil his promise, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Two men working together in a mine were preparing to blast the rock, and had placed the fuse, which accidentally took fire. Seeing their danger, they leaped into the bucket, and called to the man at the top of the shaft to draw them up, that they might escape the explosion. He tried to do this, but was not strong enough. What could be done? The fire was burning towards the powder, and in a few seconds it would go off. One of the men was a pious man, and, at this awful moment, said to the other, "You shall live, and I will die, for you are an impenitent sinner, and if you die now, your soul will be lost; but if I die, I know that by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ I shall be taken to himself." He leaped from the bucket, leaving his astonished companion to be drawn up in safety: providentially he himself was preserved uninjured amidst the fragments of the broken rock.

Here was love. When one must die, the Christian would lose his own life, that his unconverted fellow-labourer might have a little longer space for seeking mercy. Yet this noble and disinterested love was feeble in comparison with the love of God in sending his Son to be the Saviour of the world. God bestows ten thousand thousand blessings on our fallen race. The spring, the summer, the harvests, the fruits, the sunshine of day, the calm repose of night, the health and vigour that millions enjoy, are all gifts of his; but all are surpassed by the brighter display of his love in the gift of his only begotten Son. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." The apostle Paul

speaks thus of it: "Scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," Rom. v. 7, 8.

The gracious Sufferer is benevolent and excellent, and they for whom he dies are utterly unlovely, and worthy only of abhorrence and death. When we were enemies, Christ died for us.

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Wonderful indeed is this fact, that Christ, "the Lord from heaven," having taken to himself human nature, died in the sinner's place. Through the Eternal Father's love, the blessed Jesus died as a substitute for guilty men. This is the obvious meaning of the assertions, "Christ died for us". "died for our sins "died for all"—" gave himself for the life of the world" gave himself a ransom for all." A ransom was a price paid for a captive's liberty or a criminal's life. In some cases this was allowed by the Jewish law, and a person liable to death might save his life by paying a ransom for it, Exod. xxi. 30. The meaning of the term is significantly expressed by the law that no satisfaction, no ransom, should be received for the life of a wilful murderer, but that he should surely die, Numb. xxxv. 31. When Christ is declared to have given his life as a ransom for his people, nothing less can be intended than that he suffered in their stead, and on account of their sins. By doing this he obtained eternal redemption for them, his humiliation and sufferings being the ransom price of their pardon and salvation; and hence it is said, "Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price," 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.

In this wonderful plan of mercy the love of God is commended, for it was altogether the fruit of love. Man had no claim on God for help and salvation. God would have been just and holy if the whole world had perished. The Son of God would have been blessed and excellent in his own perfections if he had never come into our world to be the Saviour. But love moved the Eternal Father to pity ruined men, and "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," John iii. 16; 1 John iv. 9, 10. Love prompted the Son to become a willing victim, for "Christ hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God," Eph. v. 2. The vastness of this love can never be fully comprehended, Eph. iii. 19.

The love of God is commended by the Saviour's glory and Divine perfections. Christ Jesus, the Eternal Word, "was with God, and was God," John i. 1. He is accordingly described as "the mighty God," Isa. ix. 6-" the true God," 1 John v. 20—" the great God," Tit. ii. 13—“ God manifest in the flesh," 1 Tim. iii. 16; "Over all, God, blessed for ever," Rom. ix. 5. Yet God

was the humiliation, many the sorrows he endured, when betrayed by Judas; seized by the officers; blasphemed by Caiaphas; mocked by Herod, and condemned by Pilate. He suffered also the assaults of Satan, and when he bore the sinner's curse, it "pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief," Isa. liii. 10. How boundless was the love, that for ruined man gave one so glorious to such meanness; so exalted, to such debasement; so happy, to such misery; so dear, to such bitter woe; so superior to the world, as the Lord of glory, to be crucified as a malefactor; the holy to die for the unholy; the only righteous for the wicked; the king for the criminal; "the Lord from heaven," for a sinful worm!

The love of God, in the gift of Christ, is further commended by the utter unworthiness of all for whom he died. As sinners, men are unworthy of the Divine favour; and as estranged from God, are deserving of his entire abhorrence; yet (oh strange !) for the vilest of the vile he died. Had mortal men been as innocent as they were guilty, the coming of the Son of God into the world for their benefit would have been wonderful. Had they been suffering from misfortune, not from sin; or had they been a world of contrite sinners crying for mercy, the gift of Christ for their salvation would have been an amazing gift. But God saw them rebels, enemies, enmity itself to him, and he knew that the greater part would continue in their rebellion in spite of all his boundless compassion and of the Saviour's dying love; and yet "God so loved the world," that for it Jesus died, and sinners are not left to perish but through their own wicked choice.

The love of God is commended by the greatness of the salvation wrought out by the suffering Son of God. What can fully represent its nature or its worth? Think of the most dismal prison, and of the most wretched prisoners there; but sinners are going to a worse prison, that "prepared for the devil and his angels," Matt. xxv. 41. Think of the worst condemnation imaginable; of a wretch doomed to die by slow and lingering torments that would endure for months. The condemnation under which the sinner now lies, and whose execution awaits him, is worse than this. He is doomed to be always suffering, but ever hopeless; always tortured by the worm that never dieth, and the fire that never shall be quenched, Mark ix. 43. Think what it must be to be in such a state, under Satan's power, tormented with him in outer darkness, in eternal night, amidst weeping and wailing and utter despair. To all this every unpardoned sinner is hourly exposed, for were he to die he would fall into it; and from all this, God, through the sufferings of his Son, delivers every helpless human being who flees to Christ; and each may exclaim, "Great is thy mercy toward me: and thou