upon my Holy Hill of Zion. I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said to me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee;"* and in Acts xiii. 32, we have this ordination of God announced as the Gospel, "And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.' As concerning that He raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David,"† (referring to that passage, Isaiah lv. which proceeds thus, "Behold I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.") Such intimations could not be given as good news to every man, were not love to every man, as we have already stated, the foundation of Christ's throne. Accordingly every form in which the Gospel is addressed to sinners manifests that its substance is good will and love to them. "The angel said unto them, Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord." Thus to these shepherds, spoken to just as of the family of man, the birth of Christ the Lord is announced as the glad tidings of the birth of a Saviour to them. "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world." Thus does Christ announce himself as the bread of life given unto them in speaking to a mixed multitude, yea, in speaking to a multitude whom he immediately afterwards reproves for their rejection of him. "But I said unto you, that ye also have seen me and believe not.”* Yet to them did he announce it as glad tidings, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven, if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give him is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."+-So that in saying my Father giveth you the true bread-he saith, as elsewhere to some from among the many of whom it was true-"this is my body, which was given for you: this cup is the New Testament in my blood shed for you."+ "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."§ Thus are we taught, that did this woman know the gift of God, she would have known that she had a share in it, and that the life which was in Christ was in him for her; and when she knew the gift of God, and was made instrumental in bringing her countrymen to Jesus, thus did they express their knowledge, saying to the woman, "Now we believe not because of thy saying, but we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world."|| "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son." Here we learn, that the condition of him who believes the gospel is that he says, "God hath given to us eternal life;" and that in saying us, he means the chil * John vi. 36. † John vi. 51. John iv. 42. Luke xxii. 19, 20. ¶ 1 John v. 9-11. dren of men, is manifest in this, that every child of Adam who cannot respond to the word who does not join him and say also-God hath given us eternal life, is chargeable with denying the testimony which God hath given concerning his Son. And this is the picture of God and men here set before us.-God saying to men, I have given you eternal life, and some men believing God and answering, Thou hast given us eternal life, and some men saying, We have no proof that God hath given us eternal life, and thus making God a liar.-And is it not most obvious that if all believed God, all would be saying, God hath given us eternal life, and therefore that in very truth, God hath given, and hath declared himself to have given eternal life to all. "Moreover, brethren, I which I preached unto you. of all, that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again according to the Scriptures."* Here we are taught what it was that the apostle had FIRST announced to the Corinthians; when finding them in the condition of heathenism, he preached to them the gospel; and then he had told them, speaking of them and himself together, as alike interested in the work of Christ, although at that time they knew not that interest, and he did, "Christ died for our sins." It is impossible to escape the conviction that their knowledge that Christ died for their sins, of which he supposes the Corinthians in possession, he also states them to have received from himself at his first coming amongst them, as the good news which he brought them, and that in now speaking to them when they were believers, and saying Christ died for our sins, he is just using the very expression, and making the very same annunciation, which he had made when speaking to them, declare unto you the gospel For I delivered unto you first * 1 Cor. xv. 1, 3. yet unbelievers-and that the fact that Christ died for them was not inferred from the fact that they were believers, but was itself the fact which at his first appearance among them, he had asked them to believe. While the gospel announces a cause of joyfulness to all, in the work of God in Christ, and the appointment of him as the Mediator, it ever addresses to men a demand on them that they meet the counsel of God in Christ, by repenting towards God and being reconciled to God. Now by the footing on which this call is placed, and the inducement to compliance with it held out, the scriptures distinctly teach the universality of the atonement. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ: Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do. Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; For the promise is unto you and unto your children, and to all that are afar off; as many as the Lord our God shall call."* Thus is the Gospel promise declared to be unto men who are addressed as still in unbelief; and this promise made the ground upon which they are called to repent. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech by us, we pray in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God; for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."† "We then as workers together with him, beseech also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain." Here the apostle, in writing to the Corinthians, introduces the general statement of the word of reconcilia *Acts ii. 36-39. † 2 Cor. v. 20, 21. + Ver. I. tion which he was commissioned to preach. He called upon men, saying, Be ye reconciled to God. He made the foundation of this call an act of love on the part of God towards them, as it was towards himself, saying, "for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him ;" and, in the realization of this love, as having already come forth upon them, he beseeches them that they "receive not the grace of God in vain," that is to say, himself once a rebel, he comes to the other rebels with whom he had been joined in league against their sovereign; and now reconciled and brought back to his allegiance, by knowing his own part in a love manifested to him and them, he announces to them their part in it, and calls upon them, like him, to be reconciled. It is manifest, that the whole power of the exhortation is lost if any of them could turn and ask what proof there was that they were the objects of the deed of love upon which he founded it, and that he was not in the condition to tell them with certainty that they were. As the gospel is accompanied with the call to be reconciled to God, so is it with the admonition to share in the feelings of God towards our fellow-men, and to the expression of these feelings in asking from God, for them, that good which he hath taught us is according to his good will towards them. By the manner in which this instruction is conveyed to us, the Scriptures also teach the universal extent of the atonement. As to sharing in the feeling of God to others, we are thus taught, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."* Setting before us the family of men, ourselves and others-as under the love manifested by the gift of Christ, as the propitiation for our sins, and expected to * 1 John iv. 10. C |