lution of which mankind are more deeply interested, than this, How shall a sinner be justified before God? Every man feels himself a sinner, and has, in a greater or less degree, a sentence of condemnation within his own bosom. And the more he considers his state, the more he feels an anxiety to know how he may escape the punishment he deserves, and secure the favour of his God and Judge. The words before us remove all doubt upon this subject: they represent Christ as God's servant, sent and commissioned for this very end, to justify sinners by the knowledge of himself; and,, while they thus declare the means of our justification, they specify also the ground of it; for however gratuitous this blessing is, as it respects us, it is altogether procured for us by the vicarious sacrifice of the Son of God.

Let us consider then'

I. The means of our justification before God.

a

Christ is the person spoken of throughout this whole chapter: and here, as in the preceding chapter, he is denominated God's "servant." This title belongs to him only in his mediatorial capacity; for in his own nature, Christ is one with the Father, in glory equal, in majesty co-eternal. The appellation of "righteous," which is here applied to him, is of peculiar force in this connexion. He was eminently righteous above every creature in earth or heaven. Of fallen men,

"there is none righteous, no, not one." And though the angels are holy, yet is their righteousness not originally of and from themselves; it is the gift of God: nor is it immutable, seeing that many have fallen from it; and the preservation of those who maintain their first estate, is also the effect of God's distinguishing grace: but Christ is essentially, eternally, and immutably righteous. Moreover, angels are righteous for themselves alone; but Christ is righteous for us, having fulfilled all righteousness with the express view to impute that righteousness to us, that so we may have a righteousness

a Ver. 13.

wherein to appear before God, and God may be just in justifying us. The particular application of the term righteous" to him as justifying sinners, shews, that it is to be understood in this extent, and as equivalent to that name which is elsewhere given him, "The Lord our Righteousness."

To "justify" sinners is the work assigned him by the Father. It is his office to take even the most sinful of the human race, and so to purge them from all iniquity that they may stand before God without spot or blemish, and be regarded by him as though they never had sinned at all. This is a work which none other can perform; nor, if God had not revealed a way in which it might be done, could we have conceived it possible that such a marvellous work should ever be accomplished.

By what means he makes us partakers of this blessing, we are told in the words before us; it is by or through the knowledge of himself;" he enables us to behold him as he is revealed in the scriptures, and leads us to embrace him as our all-sufficient portion. Knowledge in general has its seat in the understanding only; but the knowledge of Christ is seated both in the understanding and the heart. Hence, in order to be justified by Christ, we must not only view him as appointed of God to save us, but to this theorectical knowledge we must add the approbation of our hearts: we must have such a full persuasion of our inability to save ourselves, and of his sufficiency to save us, as determines us to renounce all dependence on an arm of flesh, and to glory in him alone. This is the knowledge of which our Lord speaks, when he says, This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent: and it is by this alone that any sinner can be justified.

Now by bringing men thus to know him and believe. in him, he has justified many in all ages, and is yet daily communicating to thousands the blessings of salvation. It is true that, in comparison of the ungodly world, the justified have been but few in number,

Rom. v. 19. and iii. 26.

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a little flock, a small remnant: but in the last day when they shall all be collected together, they will be numberless like the stars of heaven, or the sands upon the sea shore. Nor is any one, however vile, excluded from the hope of justification, provided he be willing to embrace this Saviour. On the contrary, if all the people in the universe would but look to him for the ends and purposes for which he is revealed in the gospel, they should instantly enperience in their souls what the wounded Israelities experienced in their bodies when they looked to the brazen serpent in the wilderness: they should be 'delievered from all the fatal consequences of their sins, and be endued with spiritual and eternal life.

To mark more clearly the connexion between the means and the end attained by them, it will be proper to advert to

II. The ground of our justification.

The way appointed for our restoration to the divine favour is not a mere arbitrary institution of the Deity: there is a fitness in it, and a suitableness which deserves peculiar notice. It may be asked, Whence comes it that a knowledge of Christ should be the means of a sinner's acceptance with God? What has Christ done, that he should be authorized to justify sinners by means so inadequate to their end? In other words, supposing these means effectual to their end, what is the gound on which they become so? To these questions the text affords us a precise and satisfactory answer.

The vicarious sacrifice of our blessed Lord has been repeatedly insisted on in the foregoing parts of this prophecy: and here it is again spoken of as the ground on which he justifies those who believe in him. For the elucidating of this point let two things be considered;

First, The sacrifice of Christ removes all the obstacles to our salvation. When man had fallen, there were many things which seemed to render his restoration impossible. The law, which he had broken, denounced a curse against him; nor could the lawgiver, however desirous he might be to rescind his decree, revoke his word consistently with his own perfections: his justice

demanded satisfaction for the breach of the law; his holiness rendered it necessary that he should shew his utter abhorrence of sin; and his truth was pledged for the execution of the sentence which he had annexed to the violation of his commands; and therefore there seemed no alternative for God, no hope for man. But Christ, in becoming our surety, and bearing our iniquities in his own body, removed all these difficulties at once: he magnified the law by enduring its penalties, and made it honourable by fulfilling its commands: he also satisfied the demands of his Father's justice, truth, and holi,ness, and afforded to the whole creation a most awful proof, that sin could never be committed with impunity. There was indeed yet one more impediment to man's recovery. Man, having once fallen, had lost that righteousness which qualified him for the enjoyment of his God. But this also was removed in the very same way; for Christ's obedience unto death not only rendered our salvation consistent with the rights of law and justice, but constituted also a righteousness which was capable of being imputed to us; and procured for us the Holy Spirit, by whose almighty agency we are renewed after the divine image in righteousness and true holiness. Thus every obstacle to our salvation being removed by the death of Christ, that death may properly be called the ground of our justification.

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But, in the next place, the sacrifice of Christ obtained for him a right to justify whom he would. We are often said to be "bought with a price;" and it is particularly specified, that the price paid was, the blood of Christ; yea, that "God purchased the church with his own blood." Now it is obvious, that he who purchases any thing, has a right to the thing purchased, as soon as ever he has paid the price. Thus then has Christ a right to us as "his purchased possession." Moreover, Christ is represented as a surety who has discharged our debt; who may therefore demand our liberty, and deliver us out of the hands of our adversary, who threatens to cast us into prison. Nor is this all: for, as has been observed on a

foregoing part of this prophecy, God had bound himself by covenant to give him a seed; and had promised that, "if he would lay down his soul an offering for sin, the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand." Christ therefore, having fulfilled his part of the covenant, may claim the fulfilment of the Father's engagements, and, by virtue of the authority committed to him, may reveal himself to sinners in order to their eternal salvation. Thus, whether we consider the justification of sinners as obtained for them, or imparted to them, the death of Christ must be acknowledged as the true and only ground of it.

These points being so fully opened in other parts of this chapter, we may wave any further discussion of them, and propose for adoption such a line of conduct as shall insure to every one the blessing here spoken of.

1. Let us read the scriptures with care and diligence. The holy scriptures are the only fountian of divine knowledge. They are a kind of map, whereby we may find our way through this trackless desert, and arrive in safety at our Father's house. Our Lord says, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." Let us then not merely read them, but attend particularly to the testimony which they bear to Christ. Nor let us peruse them in a cursory manner, as though they needed no study or investigation; but rather let us examine them with deep attention, as we would a will or testament by which our title to a large inheritance was to be determined. What a succession of hopes and fears would arise in our breasts, when we read in such a will the passages that appeared prosperous or adverse; and what diligence should we use to make our title clear! How glad should we be to consult those who could give us information on the subject, and what a deep impression would their opinion make upon our minds, particularly if it were grounded on authentic records, and established cases! Such is the way in which we should search the holy oracles for ourselves, and hear them expounded to us by others: nor should we ever rest till we can prove out of them, by indisputable evidence, our right and title to the heavenly inheritance. Happy would it be for us,