that, having borne the curse due to them, he might take them all away from us for ever. This was the plan, which infinite wisdom contrived for the pardoning of sin in consistency with the divine perfections. Had the governor. of the universe received his apostate creatures to favour without any atonement, it might have appeared a light matter to transgress against him; and he himself might have seemed indifferent about the rights of justice, and the honour of his government. But, by providing such a substitute, he at once discovered his abhorrence of iniquity, and shewed himself just, while he should justify those that believe in Jesus Doubtless this was done with the consent and concurrence of his Son; for otherwise it had been an act of injustice to him: but it was nevertheless a fruit of the Father's love, and an expedient devised by him for the salvation of a ruined world; an expedient never sufficiently to be admired, the theme of men and angels to all eternity.

How this operates to counteract our apostasy may easily be seen. In the state of man two things were to be remedied, the guilt of his departure, and his propensity to depart: and the same remedy was found effectual for both. By the death of Jesus in our stead, our guilt is cancelled, and justice itself is satisfied on our behalf. Moreover the gift of the Holy Spirit is procured for us, that by his operations our nature may be changed, and we may be brought to delight as much in the ways of God as ever we delighted in the ways of sin. It is true, the very best of men have within them still a proneness to wander; and, if left to themselves, they would yet again depart from their good shepherd: but this is not their wish, as once it was; nor can they for a single day be absent from him without pain and sorrow, yea, without a determination instantly to return to him, and to watch more carefully against the beginnings of declension from him. St. Peter himself tells us, that, as this was the intent of our Saviour's death, so it is also its uniform effect; "he bare our sins in his own body on the tree:" do we ask for what end he bare them? it was, "that we, being dead unto sin, might live unto righteousness." The apostle then adds, "By whose stripes ye were healed." Do we enquire, wherein this healing consists? he tells us; "for

ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the shephered and bishop of your souls."

In order that we may make a suitable improvement of this subject, let us, 1. Adopt the confession of the prophet-How justly he represents our fallen state, is but too evident both from scripture and experience. We say not that all have lived in open immoralities, or, that all have despised the ordinances of religion. God forbid. There doubtless are many, who, in their outward deportment both towards God and man, have been comparatively blameless, yea, exceeding amiable and praiseworthy. But we must recur to the former accusation, and comprehend all under the awful character of apostates from God. And is there one amongst us that will presume to deny the charge? Did the prophet include himself in the accusation, and shall we plead innocence? Did St. Paul say respecting himself and all the other apostles, that they all had been "once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures," and shall we exalt ourselves above them? Let us rather beg of God to shew us the depth of our depravity, and to humble us in the dust under a sense of our departure from him: And let us not rest in general confessions, saying, "All we have gone astray;" but let "every one" of us search out the particular way to which we have turned, and go to God, saying, Thus and thus have I done. This must of necessity precede our return to God; or rather, it is the first step of our return. But, if we be too proud to acknowledge our apostasy, if we yet remain ignorant of our guilt and danger, let us not wonder, if we be left to depart from him, till our separation become irreparable and eternal.

2. Having adopted from our hearts the confession of the prophet, let us proceed to imitate the conduct of our God. Behold, what the Father did, when no other way remained for our restoration to his favour: he took all our iniquities, and laid them on the head of his own Son. Thus must we also do, if we would have them removed from our own souls. We must come, not with

a Pet. ii. 24, 25.

1

a few of our most heinous sins, but with all, with the entire guilt of our apostasy from God; and, as guilty and self-ruined creatures, without help or hope in ourselves, must lay them on the head of Jesus: we must not account any so great, as to doubt whether we may transfer them to him, or any so small, as to think we can atone for them ourselves; we must carry all to him, that we may be "justified by his blood, and be saved from wrath through him." We must resemble the penitent under the law, who, while he presented his offering that was to be sacrificed in his stead, laid his hands upon its head, and confessed over it his sins. Let us only be like-minded with God in this particular, and lay our iniquities on his dear Son, and we have nothing to fear. Our past transgressions shall be forgiven; and our present propensities shall be healed: we shall be brought home on the shoulders of our exulting Shepherd, and shall lie down beside the clear streams, till called to follow him to his pastures above, where we shall be "one fold under one Shepherd" for evermore.

CLXXXIX. OUR LORD'S BEHAVIOUR UNDER

HIS SUFFERINGS.

Isai. liii. 7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

THE preaching of Christ crucified has in every age been the great means of converting men to God: nor is there any passage of scripture, which may not, by a judicious exposition of it, be improved either for leading us to Christ, or for instructing us how to honour him in the world. But it is scarcely possible for any one to read the chapter before us without having his thoughts led to Christ in every. part of it. It is rather like an history than a prophecy, since every thing relating to him is so circumstantially described, and, instead of being enveloped in obscurity, is declared with the utmost plainness and perspicuity. The portion of it

selected for our present consideration was signally ho noured of God to the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, who, on his return from Jerusalem, was reading it in his chariot: God sent his servant Philip to unfold to him the mysteries contained in it: and Philip, having at his request seated himself in the chariot with him, "began at the same scripture and preached unto him. Jesus." May the same divine energy accompany our ministrations, while we lead your attention to that adorable Saviour, and point out to you both his sufferings, and his behaviour under them!

I. Let us contemplate the sufferings of Jesus.

At the first view of this passage we should be led to expatiate upon the greatness of our Redeemer's sufferings: but there is a very important idea contained in it, which, though obscurely intimated in our translation, might with propriety be more strongly expressed: the prophet informs us that Jesus was to be afflicted in an oppressive manner, as a man is, who having become a surety for another, is dragged to prison for his debts. This sense of the words would more clearly appear, if we were to translate them thus; "It was exacted, and he was made answerable."

Agreeably to this idea, instead of dwelling on the intenseness of his sufferings, we shall rather speak of them as vicarious.

We, by sin, had incurred a debt, which not all the men on earth or angels in heaven were able to discharge. In consequence of this, we must all have been consigned over to everlasting perdition, if Jesus had not engaged on our behalf to satisfy every demand of law and justice. When he saw that there was none able or willing to avert from us the miseries to which we were exposed, "his own arm brought salvation to us." As Paul, interposing for the restoration of Onesimus to the favour of his master whom he had robbed, said, "If he hath robbed thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account; I Paul have written it with mine own

a Acts-viii. 27, 28, 32, 35. b Bp. Lowth.

c Isai. lix. 16.

hand, I will repay it," so did our Lord, as it were, address his Father on our behalf; that a full compensation being made for our iniquities, we might be restored to the divine favour.

Jesus having thus become our surety, our debt "was exacted of him, and he was made answerable" for it. The demands of justice could not be relaxed. However desirous the Father himself was that man should be spared, the honour of his government absolutely requir ed that the violations of his law should be punished. On whomsoever guilt should be found, whether on the principal or the surety, it must be marked as an object of God's utter abhorrence. Not even his only dear Son, if he should stand in the place of sinners, could be exempt from the penalty due to sin. Hence, when the time was come, in which Jesus was to fulfil the obligations he had contracted, he was required to pay the debt of all, for whom he had engaged; and to pay it to the very utmost farthing.

It was by his sufferings that he discharged this debt. Let us only call to mind the sentence originally denounced against sin, and we shall see that he endured it in all its parts. Were our bodies and our souls doomed to inconceivable misery? he sustained, both in body and soul, all that men or devils could inflict upon him. Was shame to be a consequence of transgression? Never was a human being loaded with such ignominy as he; "the very abjects mocking him incessantly, and gnashing upon him with their teeth." Were we to be banished from the presence of God, and to have a sense of his wrath in our souls? Behold, Jesus was "bruised by the Father" himself; and experienced such bitter agonies of soul, that the blood issued from every pore of his body: and he who had sustained in silence all that man able to inflict, cried out by reason of the darkness of his soul; and the inexpressible torment that he suffered under the hidings of his Father's face. Were we subjected to a curse? He was, by the special providence of God, doomed to a death, which had long before

d Ps. xxxv. 15, 16.

was