PRESENT SALVATION. 225 SalvaIt not joys. Salvation brings deliverance from wrath and hell. There was a sentence of condemnation against him, but that sentence is now repealed, never to be again renewed. If Christ justifies, who is he that can condemn ? tion gives a title to heaven, and a foretaste of it. only rescues from all evil, but it secures all good. only delivers from hell, but it carries to heaven. only promises an inheritance, but it enables us to read our title clear to it in letters of blood. Reader, has salvation come from Christ to thy heart and to thy house? It not It not The time of it."This day." The sinner may get salvation to-day. When it is offered in the gospel, it is always offered as a present blessing, and God offers to save no man to-morrow, or on any future day. An opportunity not improved may never return. A convenient season anticipated may never arrive. This day is the best time for getting salvation. It is God's time. "Now is the day of salvation". "Remember now "_" Come now". "God now commandeth." An important matter demands immediate attention, and admits of no delay; and what so important as the salvation of the soul? If it is not got now, it may never be got. Reader, to-morrow you may be dead. To-morrow your heart will be harder, and your guilt will be deeper than to-day; and, like the man who lost the train by which he meant to travel, you may be constrained to exclaim, "I am too late." What a calamity! and who is to blame for it? The reason of it." Forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham." This does not refer to Zaccheus, as a lineal descendant of Abraham, but to his faith as resembling Abraham's. "Know ye therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." "They which be of faith, are blessed with faithful Abraham." Jesus is the sole object of faith, and whoever wishes relief must look to him. His beams enlighten the soul, his P 226 PRESENT SALVATION. blood brings peace to the conscience, and his promise gives hope of heaven. Faith fixes and settles on this object. The devils believe that Jesus is a Saviour; but because he is not a Saviour for them, they tremble. Sinners also believe that he is a Saviour; and because he is a Saviour for them, they rejoice. Thus are they the sons of Abraham, because they have like faith with him ; thus are they the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. MAY 17. The Righteousness of Christ. "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable."-Isa. xlii. 21. HERE we have the righteousness of Christ-the delight of God therewith-and the reason of this delight. The righteousness of Christ.-This righteousness spoken of by the prophet is evidently Christ's; for the evangelist Matthew quotes the first three verses of the chapter, and proclaims their fulfilment in the appearance and ministry of Jesus. Christ's righteousness consists of his holy obedience. He was made under the law, not for himself, but for us, and kept all its precepts; and his obedience is available for us. It also consists of his sufferings and death. The law not only required obedience, but it required satisfaction. The penalty which its breach incurred must be paid, and Jesus paid it when he agonized and died. His obedience unto death constitutes his righteousness, and the gospel brings it nigh to us who are stout-hearted and far from righteousness. "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength." The delight of God therewith.-"The Lord is well pleased." Jehovah always loved us, but his love must have a consistent way of reaching us, a channel along which it THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 227 could flow and revive our souls. Now this channel it has got in the satisfaction of Christ. His righteousness exhibits Jehovah just, and the justifier of the ungodly. His righteousness meets all the claims of divine justice, removes all the barriers that stood in the way of our returning to God, and maintains fully the honour of God and of his holy law. Thus, divine love, which sin had shut out from our world, re-enters it, and, brighter than a sunbeam, shines into our souls, and kindles a flame there that shall burn before the throne of God. My reader, since God is well pleased with the righteousness of Christ, how art thou affected with it? Claim it as thy possession; make it the ground of thy peace during life, and the ground of thy hope in the prospect of death. The reason of this delight." He will magnify the law, and make it honourable." The law had been broken by man, and never could be obeyed or honoured by him; but Jesus perfectly obeyed it. He could challenge the world, and say, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" All his friends declared that he was holy, and did no sin ; and his worst foes could find no fault in him. The law which man broke, he obeyed; which man dishonoured, he made honourable. Yea, more; while man at best could only have obeyed it, he magnified it. Amazing condescension! God manifest in flesh obeyed the law for us: he that was in the beginning-he that was God, and made all things became subject to law, obeyed all its precepts, and left us an example that we should follow his steps. Let us strive to give evidence that we value the blood-bought righteousness of Jesus by keeping his commandments. 228 THE ATONEMENT RECEIVED. MAY 18. The Atonement Receibed. "We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."-Rom. v. 11. As the sun is the centre of that system of which our earth forms a part, and as all the planets revolving round him derive their light and glory from him; so the atonement of Christ is the centre of the Christian system, and all the other doctrines of religion derive their importance and glory from it. Here we have the atonement-the atonement received-and the happiness of receiving it. The atonement.-This word means that which makes God and men at one, or the reconciliation. Think of its necessity. God is holy, just, and true; man is sinful, condemned, and perishing; hence, God must punish sin either on the transgressor or his substitute. "Without shedding of blood is no remission." Now Jesus has shed his blood, and that blood of atonement exhibits God as just, and the justifier of the ungodly. Think of its nature. It is a satisfaction to the justice of God, on the ground of which he can consistently pardon and save sinners. Darius could find no atonement for Daniel, but God has found one for us. Think of its efficacy. In reference to God, it forms a channel by which his love reaches us; and in reference to men, it forms a new way to heaven, and cleanses from all sin. The atonement received.-I must believe in its truth. It has been made, it is abundantly sufficient, and no man perishes for the want of it; hence the gospel invites, urges, and commands me to believe in it, and in him who made it ; and if I neglect or refuse, I must perish. I must receive it. This is done when I receive and appropriate Christ. To look at money in the possession of another, would do me THE ATONEMENT RECEIVED. 229 no good; but to receive it, and have it, would be useful to myself and others. So is it with Christ and his atonement. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." The proper time is "Now." It is offered to me now; God requires me to receive it now; and I am sure of it now. O my soul, art thou under the covering of this propitiation? If so, death cannot hurt thee. The happiness of receiving it." We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Think of the joy. There is the joy of pardon, the joy of peace, the joy of son-ship, the joy of hope, and the joy of heaven. This joy is the sunshine of the soul; it is a beam of heaven's glory irradiating the believer while still in a tabernacle of clay. Think of its connection: "In God." We joy in him as a Father and a Friend, because he is in Christ reconciling the world to himself. Think of its medium: "Through our Lord Jesus Christ." He is our Lord and Master, he is Jesus our Saviour, he is Christ our anointed Mediator; and because he is ours by faith, and ours in possession, we have all joy, and heaven begun while we are on earth. MAY 19. The Vineyard Inspected. "What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes ?"-Isa. v. 4. HERE we have God's vineyard-what he did for it-what he expected from it-and what he found. God's vineyard.-This is the house of Israel, or the church of the living God. It is his because he planted it in a choice spot, separated it from the rest of the world by a high barrier, and governs it, not by human laws, but |