man. The satisfaction of God was proved in the resurrection of Christ. His dead body was the sacrifice; His resurrection, its acceptance by fire from heaven. All the fire of the Divine Nature, fell on His dead body, on the morning of his resurrection, not to annihilate, but to quicken; to swallow up with life. And from that moment there is ONE SACRIFICE in a state of already and unchangeable acceptance before God in heaven, for all the sons of men; but especially for all believers, whose sins were swallowed up with oblivion; when their sacrifice was swallowed up into life.

I am, my dear Sir, affectionately yours,

G. BARROW KIDD.

NOTES OF A DISCOURSE BY THE REV. MATTHEW HENRY.

The following outline is transcribed from the original manuscript, written on a half-sheet of small post doubled, with a margin in which the notes inserted at the foot of our pages, are written. It bears the date of "Nov. 1, 1696," and was therefore written when Mr. Henry was at Chester, and in the thirty-fourth year of his age.

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.”1 Pet. ii. 24.

The truth contained in these words is as great, and of as great consequence, as any in the Scriptures. We had it opened at large last Sabbath day, from Heb. ix. 28. While we are conscious to ourselves of so much guilt, and cannot but be aware of the consequences of it, it must needs be a relief to an awakened conscience, to hear of a certain way to get clear of it. Behold, here is such a way-here is one that bore our sins. If you ask; of whom speaketh the Apostle this? It can be meant only of Christ. How he bore our sins, you heard before here 'tis said,

1. He did it his own self—is avròs-'tis very emphatical, 'tis a redundance of expression, and yet really comes short in signification of that great love.

(1.) He did it himself alone*-himself and no other with him—and he needed no other; he was himself sufficient for the undertaking. No other was to share in the glory, and therefore no other was to bear part in the undertaking. He trod the wine-press alone, Isa. liii. 3. 5. Deut. xxxi. 12. This was typified by the high priest's making atonement alone, Lev. xiv. 17.† The whole weight lay upon the shoulders of one. He could have summoned in the assistance of legions of angels;

How will ye answer it that make other propitiatory sacrifices, as the Papists ?

but the angel appeared at a distance, Luke xxii. 43. When Christ entered upon his sufferings, his disciples forsook him, Matt. xxvi. 56.

(2.) He did it by himself. As he had no assistants, so he had no instruments. We find in temporal salvations he used the agency of men, that came to the help of the Lord against the mighty. But when this great work was to be done, he employed no others, but by himself he did it, Heb. i. 3. He useth ministers in proclaiming the salvation, and in carrying on the work; but he wrought it out by himself. In other sacrifices, there must be an offerer, an offering, a priest, an altar; but in this, Christ himself was all. He is the Alpha and the Omega of it-all in all in it-for his heart was upon it.

(3.) He acted in it like himself. There is an emphasis of honor in it-like that, Ps. lxxxvii. 5. The highest himself-q. d. let me alone. to do it. This work of taking away sin, God doth in a special manner glory in, as Isa. xliii. 25, comp. v. 22. This was the mighty He who undertook that which no one else durst-not like himself as God, but like himself as Mediator. Notice is taken of this himself, Matt. viii. 17. None was found worthy of the honour but the Lamb that was slain, Rev. v. 2. comp. v. 9.

(4.) The avròs may stand in opposition to the uv-the sin was ours, the burthen his-we the offenders, he the sufferer. It adds very much of lustre to the work of redemption to compare the Redeemer and the redeemed. Whose were the sins ?-ours, who are so mean, so vile, so unworthy, no great loss if we had sunk under them eternally. But who bore them? He, who was the brightness of his Father's glory, Heb. i. 3.* He who had no need of us, bore our sins who could make him no returns—the just, for the unjust, 1 Pet. iii. 18.--He who knew no sin, for us who knew no righteousness, 2 Cor. v. 21. What is man? Ps. viii. 4.

Sometimes

2. He did it in his own body, i. e. in his human nature. he is said to make his soul an offering, Isa. liii. 10., and he committed his spirit in his life into the hands of his Father-here his body, comp. Heb. x, 10., and Col. i. 21, 22. The shedding of the blood of Christ, which is the vehicle of the animal spirit, and the nexus between soul and body, is often said to make atonement. Heb. ix. 22. The bodies of the beasts were offered in sacrifice. Heb. xiii. 11, 12. He bore our sins when he was in the body, and tabernacled it among us--he did not bear them to heaven, for by bearing them to the cross he bore them away. But it is here called his own body.

(1.) Because it was prepared for him to this very end, that in that body he should bear our sins, Heb. x. 5. It answers to mine ear hast thou bored, Ps. xl. 6. Gr. a body thou hast fitted me.

* He restored that which he took not away, Ps. lxix. 4.

That must

needs be fit for the purpose which infinite wisdom provided. 'Twas prepared for him in the divine counsels from eternity, prepared for him in the fulness of time; when the first begotten is brought into the world, he refers himself to the book of the Eternal Decrees. There had need be preparation of this tabernacle which was to be so inhabited. And yet there appears not to have been any visible difference. (2.) Because he had a propriety in it. 'Twas his own, so as our bodies are not onr own. 1 Cor. vi. 20., bodies are his—the body is for the Lord. But Christ's was his own, see John x. 18, he was the absolute lord of his own life. If it had not been thus his own, he could not have offered it up. Should we give our bodies, or the fruit of our bodies, for the sin of our souls, it would be robbery for burnt offerings; but Christ's was his own-while it remained it was in his own person, yet he kept back no part of the price. He bore our sins in his body, therefore in the feast upon the sacrifice, 'tis his body that we communicate of. 1 Cor. x. 16.-his body broken, i. e. the benefits that accrue to us by the breaking of his body.

3. He did it on the tree. You know what that tree was. 'Twas the cross, on which he suffered. He bore our sins to the tree, and bore them on the tree. When he died upon the tree, 'twas as a sacrifice for our sins-there he suffered-there he died.

(1.) 'Twas to him a shameful (cursed) tree. There was a public curse affixed to him that was hanged, Gal. iii. 13. referring to Deut. xxi. 23. He was hanged up between heaven and earth, as if he had been unworthy of either, and abandoned by both; but really to reconcile them, and in a happy sense to bring heaven and earth together. The death of the cross was a slave's death-had a public mark of ignominy put upon it.

(2.) 'Twas to us a blessed tree. The cross is called a tree, because, whatever it was to him, to us it was like Aaron's dry rod that blossomed. We sinned by a tree, Gen. iii.-saved by a tree. Sin which he bore was nailed to the cross, Col. ii. 13. 'Twas to us a tree of life, which Adam when he had sinned was shut out from, Rev. ii. 7. 'Twas to us like the tree that was cast into the waters of Marah, which made them sweet, Ex. xv. 25. 'Twas like the pole on which the brazen serpent was lifted up, John iii. 14, 15. The Papists make a mighty ado about the form of it, the Scriptures insist much upon the matter of it.*

1. Let this increase our hatred and detestation of sin. Was this it that brought Christ to the tree, and burthened him so much there; and shall we be fond of it, and lay it in our bosoms? Let us never be such fools as to make a light matter of sin, which Christ made so great a matter of, which brought him to the tree and burthened him there : especially, let us not sin against God with our bodies. Rom. vi. 12, 13.

* Christ made sin, as the healing serpent was in shape a serpent.

2. Let this engage our love and thanks to the Lord Jesus. Celebrate his praises, speak of it to his glory. 'Twas he his own self that bore our sins, and therefore he his own self must have all the praise. When we are commemorating this great love wherewith he loved us, at his table, let our hearts be suitably affected by it; and let it constrain us, 2 Cor. v. 14. The songs of praise, Rev. v. run all on this.

3. Let this encourage us to cast ourselves and all our burthens upon him. He that bore our sins is able to bear any thing. Venture yourselves and your all in the hands of the Lord Jesus. Ps. lv. 22. Cast thy burthen. Whatsoever it is that is a burthen to thee, roll it upon Christ; he invited you to do so. The burthen of guilt, not so as not to be afflicted with it, but so as not to sink and despair under it, see Rom. viii. 33, 34. The burthen of sickness. Christ bore our sins in his body, to make bodily sickness easy to us; undertake for me, saith Hezekiahı when sick, Isa. xxxviii. 14. The burthen of care, 1 Pet. v. 7. The Father, because he loveth the Son, has committed all things into his hand; let us commit all ours. John iii. 35. 4. If he bore our sins, let us go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. Heb. xiii. 13. Go forth out of this world; sit loose to it; cast it all behind your backs, that you may go out to Jesus Christ. Whatever you may be called out to bear for Christ, think it not hard; he bore the reproach of our sins and despised the same; let us bear the reproach of his cross, and count it an honour.

5. Let us always bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, so that the life also of Jesus may be manifest in our mortal body. 2 Cor. iv. 10. While we are here in the body, bear about the thoughts of Christ's dying-the impressions of it. Live as those that believe in a crucified Jesus.

ON THE EVASION OF THE RECENT MARRIAGE LAW. MR. EDITOR,-Some months ago, a few papers were inserted in your valuable miscellany, on the subject of marriage. They referred to that recent act, which prohibits the widower from marrying the sister of his deceased wife, and the widow, the brother of her deceased husband. Notwithstanding the passing of that law, marriages coming within the prohibited degrees are clandestinely contracted, by many who stand in communion with the church of Christ. The question was discussed in your magazine, how far such marriages were scriptural, and if that be conceded in the affirmative, the question returns, how far it is right to bring the parties who intermarry, in defiance of the law of their country, under the censure and discipline of the church.

This, I fear, Mr. Editor, is a question to which Christian pastors must turn their attention. Is it right to retain in our communion,

persons, whose intercourse, in the eye of human authority, is adulterous, and whose offspring, if any, are, in the judgment of the state, illegitimate?

The parties, who intermarry, maintain, in justification of their procedure, that no divine commandment is broken. It is conceded, that, with respect to the degrees within which it is lawful to marry, the Scriptures are silent. The word of God contains no prohibitions,* but if a brother should marry his sister, should we not at once exclude them from the church? But what divine law have they broken? There are many reasons that would justify and imperatively demand their expulsion, though it would be difficult to find an express scriptural precept to enforce it. May not some considerations be urged to show, that the same discipline would be expedient, wise, and just, in those cases, where marriages are contracted within the prohibited degrees of affinity?

It is not, however, quite clear, that no divine law is broken by the contraction of marriage within the prohibited degrees. Is it not an inspired precept "submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake?" The admonition applies to all cases of duty where the rights of conscience are not invaded. Marriage is a civil contract framed in the judgment of the state, on principles best adapted to sustain the interests of the community, and has nothing to do with our Christianity. It belongs to the province of feeling, but does not enter within the sacred enclosure of conscience. Are we justified in unfurling the flag of incipient rebellion, against the laws of our country, for the gratification of the former? Are persons acting in this manner and violating the positive precepts of Scripture, to be retained in Christian fellowship? It may be a trial to them, that such a law should exista matter of sorrow that any obstruction should arise to the realization of their wishes, but would it not be more Christian-like, more in harmony with the genius of the Gospel, which is eminently a system of self-denial, to suppress rather than to encourage their affections. Is it one of those "things" which are "lovely" and "of good report," on which we are commanded to "think," to seek the consummation of a union which, however lawful in a scriptural sense, can only be effected by loss of character in the judgment of a reflecting public; and by placing every child, the fruit of that union, in a most unenviable position?

It is difficult to vindicate the parties who thus marry, from the charge of violating that simplicity and truthfulness Scripture inculcates upon the church. Ere marriage can be celebrated, declaration must be made that no lawful impediment to its consummation is known. Suppose

Let the reader for his satisfaction on this point, consult an elaborate article in Eclectic Review, Feb. 1841.