resembles a rich man engaging to free a slave from an oppressive master; not by the power of his wealth, but by an act of mercy in taking the slave's place and subjecting himself to the self-same treatment. Christ's power, though almighty, could not, it is conceived, have rescued one soul from hell: it must be the price in full, which justice required, for the release of those whom it retained as hostages until satisfaction was rendered. It would appear strange, if in the common affairs of life a man were to say he purchased certain property by the power of his arm! We should be at no loss how to decide upon such a transaction. Neither did Christ purchase or redeem the church in any such way: no, it must be a price of adequate value to the property purchased or redeemed. The church was found under the law, and had incurred its curse. Jesus Christ her representative and surety comes up with the law within his heart, to magnify it for the persons of his elect, and subsequently to bear its curse; which together form the price of her redemption. It is the remark of a venerable servant of the Lord, that there never was but one in our world whose life and death were of real importance, and worth recording,' and that was Christ, who died that a whole nation might not perish. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. He made the iniquities of us all to meet on him. Sin must have a resting-place somewhere till fully expiated; and whereever it is found, when the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, it will burn it and its possessor with devouring fire. Now the wrath of God due to that part of mankind, known in scripture by the term elect, did come down; but instead of alighting upon the elect it fell on Christ, and spent itself. Why this? There was nothing consumable in them; there was no sin upon them; there was not a spot, or the shadow of iniquity, attaching to their persons. "The sin of Judah was sought for, and there was none." If there had been any, ⚫ not a soul could have escaped eternal perdition; but their transgressions were removed from them and laid upon him, for which he was stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. He was made sin for us; not a particle of his holy body but was affected by it. It drank up his whole soul it was to him an intolerable burden, and a loathsome disease. Ps. xxxviii. The nature of an atonement will at once appear, on reference to the book of Leviticus, as well as to the invariable practice of the jews in all their sacrifices. These types seem to have been as it were the portraiture of the bleeding victim of Calvary, in which the outlines of that amazing work were delineated. To constitute an atonement, or sin offering, it was necessary that the victim should be first made sin; which was done by " putting upon its head all the iniquities of the children of Israel." (Lev. xvi. 21.) This order was preserved without interruption throughout the whole Jewish economy, until he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now though the spotless life of Jesus was essential to, it did not, nor could it alone constitute an acceptable offering; nay, it could not be an offering at all. There was nothing of adaptation in his holy person, simply considered, to sustain this office; it bore no resemblance to the typical atonements which prefigured him, and which in connection with prophecy formed that faint glimmering which lighted jewish Israel through their cloudy dispensation to him, who in the fulness of time was to arise upon them "a morning without clouds." There must be, it is conceived, a deserving of punishment by transgression being found upon him, before God could inflict upon Christ what he did. Sin was found upon Christ in a greater degree than on any single individual of Adam's posterity: God viewed him, doubtless, as guilty of, and answerable for all the offences of his elect in all ages. He bore their sins as truly upon himself to Calvary, as did Isaac the wood of the burnt-offering to mount Moriah. (Gen. xxii. 6.) Can it be supposed that the bitter cry" my God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" was ideal, or feigned, or uttered merely to be recorded? To impute this would be little short of blasphemy! and instead of the scheme of salvation being grounded in justice and righteousness, it would present a system of collusion. No: it was the breathing out of his soul to his Father. This forsaking was as much called for, as it was real, and affords an irrefragable proof, that sin, which alone can separate from God, did rest upon Christ, and for which he was made a curse in consequence. What could have caused him to exclaim, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me!” but the odious nature of sin which was laid upon him, in conjunction with the wrath about to alight upon his devoted head? He knew no sin himself, consequently it was an oppressive load to him, nor could he have sustained it but for the divinity within:'' he bore our sins in his own body on the tree:' he stood as a lamb dumb before his shearers, whilst the transgressions of elect sinners were confessed over him by priest and people, and actually laid upon him by his heavenly Father: blasphemy and lies were laid to his charge, yet he opened not his mouth! because, says he, " thou didst it! He knew that he stood the surety of his people, and amenable to justice for every act of disobedience committed by them; therefore, though the malice of his accusers thereby redoubled, he answered nothing. (See the four gospels): God unclothed his elect of their sins, (Zech. iii. 4.) and transferred them to the person of his dear Son; until which act had been performed he could not justly suffer. But now, by this wondrous and unparalleled transaction, is Christ ready to be offered. Now may the voices of thousand ransomed souls with holy rapture exclaim, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!" The iniquity of the land was taken away in one day! Our sins in the body of Immanuel being suspended on Calvary's cross the main ingredient in the sacrifice, which rendered the whole ignitible to divine wrath, and exposed the immaculate Son of God a prey to death. In the appointed hour, and at the instigation of the powers of darkness, they pierced his hands and his feet, and opened the fountain of blood to the house of David and the inhabi tants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. The sin of Judah, though written with a pen of iron and with the point of a diamond, (Jer. xvii. 1.) is for ever effaced-it is expiated it is finished.' 3rdly. We have to notice the blessed effects of the atonement when received by the Holy Ghost. (Rom. v. 11.) They are quietness and assurance for ever: for if the Lord speaks peace, who then shall cause trouble? who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? who will condemn whom God justifieth? it is Christ that died! Sin cannot have been laid upon Christ and yet revert to thee every time satan and conscience upbraid thee, poor sinner, "have faith in God," and lean not to thy own reasonings: it is satan's aim to burden the soul with her own sins, and to spread a film over the eye that would see them upon Christ. With what holy pleasure and satisfaction must old jewish saints, who lived by faith in Christ, have approached on the annual day of atonement, to see and hear their sins confessed over, and laid upon the head of the scape goat! and shall not believers now, henceforth, and for ever, rejoice to see all their sins confessed over the head of Christ. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." There is no impiety or presumption in a believer approaching God his heavenly Father in the character in which he beholds him-complete in Christ -without spot or wrinkle-pure, undefiled; (see Solomon's Song throughout). They really are all this, and it cannot have been revealed but that it might be known and confided in. The atonement cannot be outreached, for it cleanses from all sin. It was the ransom price, as before stated, paid to the law, for the whole election of grace, upon receipt of which it could ask no more. Its authority over them ceases; they are dead to the law by the body of Christ, and the law is dead to them, Rom. vii. It is no longer a governing principle: it cannot claim obedience from them, neither can it arraign them for default; they are not under it, but under grace. They are no longer inhabitants of Mount Sinai, but of Mount Zion, the holy city, which has its own peculiar laws and privileges; its walls are salvation, and its gates praise. Jehovah Jesus is the sum and substance of blessedness-the first and the last-the all in allthe glory in the midst of them: his presence is constant; Zion is his treasure-his portion-before whom he has said, "I will be glorified." Deut. x. 3. hurt. Moreover, through the atonement, death is spoiled of his power to Jesus, risen from the grave, has drunk Jordan dry, or so far reduced its depths as to leave it fordable for his redeemed to pass over. It bears now no gloomy chilling aspect, its passage is easy; the opposite shore is full in view, and crowded with ministring spirits to convoy the believer up to the bosom of his Father God. Our senses may sometimes be haunted with the recollection of what it once was, but if looking unto Jesus fear is groundless. Who that has been led of the Holy Ghost to see his sins borne away by Christ would wish to defer the coming of the Redeemer ? The atonement fully received is an antidote to all the fears of death. In the last place; there are no arguments so cogent, no entreaties so armed with power to provoke unto love and good works, as those drawn from the sufferings of Jehovah Jesus. Is it rational to conclude that while creature love, so weak and fickle, begets its own nature, love of the strongest and most exalted kind, and above all, which is immutable, will engender hatred? Should the weapon that had shed the blood of the beloved father of a family be an instrument of pleasing recollection, and of frequent use with the survivors? or, would it not rather be held in utter abhorrence, and awaken the keenest sorrow at every remembrance of it? And can we love and fondly embrace that murderous thing which has plunged the whole race of man into ruin, and crucified the Saviour? So absurd a notion can originate only in the imaginations of "filthy dreamers," with whom we can have nothing to do. Fearing that the space necessary for the insertion of these thoughts will occupy already more of your "Treasury" than is usually allotted to one piece, the following lines composed on an occasion of peculiar joy of soul in the contemplation of this subject shall conclude; which, with the foregoing, may the Lord the Spirit bless to his redeemed people, if agreeable to the "truth as it is in Jesus." Hail! Lamb of God, by cov'nant plan ་་་ Thy wounds are pierc'd, whilst mine are heal'd. G ** (For the Spiritual Magazine.) ON THE FULNESS OF CHRIST. "For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell."-Col, i. 19, No subject can be more suitable for the children of God, who see nothing but emptiness in the world, and daily feel the emptiness of their persons, their prayers, their every religious duty, and are constantly crying out, "woe is me, for I am undone !" But these sweet words inform us that there is a fulness dwelling in Christ; secondly, that it is the pleasure of God the Father that all fulness should dwell there; and thirdly, it will be proper to enquire for whom this fulness is provided. First, there is a dwelling fulness in Christ as God, for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, all perfections, all blessedness, all glory. But here we have to do with his mediatorial fulness as God-man Mediator, a fulness of efficacy in his precious atoning blood, to make peace with God, to wash away all guilty stains from his church, to pay the whole of his people's debts; to give full satisfaction for all injuries done to the holy law of God, which demands perfect obedience, and the strict-justice of God which admits of no compromise; and to procure the full and entire forgiveness of all sins. Secondly, there is a fulness in the perfect righteousness of Jesus, that God the Father is well pleased with; angels wonder at it, and admire it; saints are justified by it, are brought into a state of non-condemnation through it, and are admitted into heaven upon the footing of having this blessed robe imputed to them; it fills every soul full who has it on. Thirdly, shall we come to his intercessory work in heaven? it is full of merit, that it makes all the prayers of all saints efficacious; no petition will be sent back unanswered that Jesus presents: 66 He, dearest Lord! perfumes our sighs, And sweetens every groan.' Our confessions of sin, our acknowledgment of mercies, our begging fresh supplies of pardon, life, liberty, the spirit of adoption, &c. are all attended to in heaven, through the advocacy of our High Priest above. Fourthly, there is a great fulness in his pardoning grace. Look at Peter; Christ was suffering for Peter, while Peter was denying him; and although the disciples slept when he told them to watch, yet he pardoned them; they slept again, but he pardoned again; they slept again, and he forgave them again. Take encouragement, poor sin-burdened soul! thy transgressions, numberless and great as they are, shall never condemn thee; they are cast behind the back of infinity and eternity; they are buried in the depths of the sea; they are borne away to the land of forgetfulness; they are blotted out, and when sought for shall not be found. We often see in the bible, that when sinners were committing the greatest acts of sin, Christ was displaying the greatest acts of pardon:"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He must VOL. III.-No. 34. 2 M |