In such a state of things, Jehovah, in mercy to his offending creatures, devised a plan for our restoration to his friendship and favour in Christ Jesus our Lord, Rom. 4. 25. who was delivered for our offences. That he made adequate atonement, is a truth worthy of all acceptation. The difficulty lies not in discovering, but in selecting and arranging, testimony in its support. He bore our sinshe suffered punishment in our stead-he offered sacrifice in our behalf-the satisfaction which he made for our offences is declared to be complete -reconciliation is now procured upon the footing of that satisfaction. Is there any thing else necessary in order to support the doctrine of the atonement? This is proof, clear, copious, and conclusive.

1. Christ Jesus bare our sins, 1 Pet. 2. 24. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. He bare our sins on the cross. How did he bear them? They are not substances capable of being collected, and constituting a mass of matter that shall gravitate in a scale, or shall be bound with tangible cords to his body. They are qualities of the state, disposition, and actions, of an intelligent creature. They are 'Aro, a want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. How did he bear them? This quality did not belong to his disposition or his actions. He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners How then did he bear them? This question must be answered. The assertion is not without meaning. He did not bear them as a mass of matter bound upon his body. He did not bear them as immoral qualities tinging his soul with pollution. They became his by a legal transfer. He bare them by imputation. He became a public representative, and thus our guilt-our liability to punishment, was

* 1 John 3. 4.

† Heb. 7. 26.

laid upon him. No other answer can possibly bear examination in the light of truth. Every other reply is an evasion of the question. It is a trifling, a soul-destroying evasion. Christ could not have otherwise borne our sins. God hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin*. God hath made his holy Son to be sin for us, eg, in our stead. How is the Holy One made to be sin? By having sinful propensities actually infused into his soul? Impossible! By being made to violate the rule of righteousness Equally impossible! He knew no sin, either in his inclination or behaviour. He made him to be sin by bearing our sins. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all. He charged to his account all our offences. This criminal debt the Redeemer undertook to pay. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better Testament ‡, in order to make atonement for our offences, and to procure for us reconciliation with God.

Behold him elevated upon the cross, ye holy disciples! behold him, ye mourning sinners! He bears our sins on his own body on the tree-Calvary groans the earth trembles the rocks are rentthe sun is darkened-heaven frowns-the tempest bursts upon our Surety, and

2. He suffers punishment in our stead. 1 Pet. 3. 18. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.

Punishment is the penalty annexed to disobedi ence; and the pain inflicted upon the offender is in proportion to the offence committed. This pain is the remedy provided in the constitution of the moral world, for the evil of deviating from the laws of rectitude. The hand of discipline inflicts pain for the benefit of the subject, and the public good may

* 2 Cor. 5. 21.

† Isa. 53. 6.

+ Heb. 7. 22.

call for voluntary suffering, or the exhibition of sufferings under authority. Pains, however, endured for the good of others, or the personal advantage of the sufferer, are not always penal. It is essential to punishment that suffering has been merited: and punishment is due to the criminal, entirely on account of the crime, independently of all considerations of personal improvement, or the utility of the example to others. This principle is as necessary to the order of the moral world, as attraction is to the material system.

Our sins deserved punishment; for the wages of sin is death*. Christ bare our sins and suffered their punishment. He suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust. These sufferings made atonement. They were penal, because they were on account of sins. The punishment was endured by the Redeemer, as a substitute-the just for the unjust --and the end is the re-establishment of the offending sinner in the friendship of God-in order to bring us to God.

A view of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, as making an adequate atonement for the offence of sin is essential to the sinner's hope. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows-he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief t." And wherefore did it please the Lord? Because Jesus Christ merited the cursed death of the cross, on account of sins by himself committed? No. Far from it. The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Did Jesus suffer merely as a witness for the truth of his doc

trine? He suffered as a witness; but not as a witness only. The doctrine to which he gave testimony, even in his death, the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many, is the doctrine of the atonement. Did he suffer as an example? Yes: but not merely as an example. He patiently endured tribulation in our redemption, and set us an example of suffering patiently in our profession of faith in his blood. The example is precious. It is encouraging. It is effectual. But strip the sufferings of Christ Jesus of this character-they were the punishment of our sins; and they then cease to be a salutary example. What! Messiah suffered for no sin? and yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him! Such an example would be terrifying, disgusting, detestable. What an example! That perfect innocence may be rewarded by Jehovah with the most terrible pains!-An example, that God is pleased to bruise his Son without a cause or an object! An example that the greatest holiness may be doomed to the most exquisite anguish !-An example, of cruelly taking the sceptre from the hand of justice, and sporting with the tortures of one in whom there was no fault, to whose account there was none charged, who ought not to have suffered ! And is this the doctrine which the wisdom of the world would persuade us to consider as more equitable than the doctrine of the atonement? The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God.

Adopt the scriptural representation of the sufferings of Christ, and all is consistent. Beloved of God, holy and harmless as he was, he ought to suffer. By the constitution of the covenant of grace, he became our surety-he bore our sins-our guilt was transferred to him-he must accordingly bear

our griefs. Justice demands the punishment of our

sins.

Hear his own words: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe-ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?" Even so might grace reign through righteousness-Grace reign, in the constitution of the system, through justice displayed in the execution of the victim. For

3. Christ Jesus offered sacrifice in our behalf in order to procure reconciliation for us.

Eph. 5. 2. Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God. To God he offered the sacrifice; for God was offended and must be appeased, or we, whom he loved, must perish for ever. The Redeemer is the priest, who offered unto God the sacrifice, which is our propitiation. He is, himself, the sacrifice, which he offered unto God, for a sweet smelling savour. He He gave his life a ransom for many.

From the earliest ages of the world, sacrifice formed a part of the religious worship offered unto God by fallen man. "Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also, brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof."

The Hebrew ritual provided for this kind of religious worship in an eminent degree. The Priesthood, and the variety of sacrifices presented by them, according to the Levitical law, gave a peculiar character to the whole system of ordinances appointed of God for his people Israel. These sacrifices were piacular. Therefore, we so frequently read, in the law which required them, of the atonement which they made †. We are, however, inform

*Luke 24. 25, 26.

† Exod. 29. 36. & 30, 10. Lev. 1. 4. & 4. 20. Num. 15. 25. &c. &c.