we have had clearer information and more exalted privileges. "If the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression received a just recompence of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" We are not taught, as the Jews were, through the medium of outward rites and ceremonies; but "the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true." We are not under the rigour of the Levitical law, but under the new covenant of grace and mercy. Gratitude, therefore, as well as duty, should bind us to seek a complete conformity to the will of God. And, besides this, we have the gracious promise of the Holy Spirit, to enlighten our understandings, to purify our will, and to renew our hearts. We are not left alone and unbefriended in our arduous contest with the world, the flesh, and the devil; for if we pray for strength from above, it will be afforded to us according to our necessities. And, to complete all, we have the promise of a crown of glory that fadeth not away, reserved for the Christian in that blessed world where nothing unrighteous or unholy can obtain admission. Let us then fear lest

we come short of that promise; and let us ever keep in mind the necessary qualification for the blessedness of heaven; neither deceiving our

selves by trusting to our own righteousness as the ground of our hope, which must be placed on the merits of our Saviour only; nor, on the other hand, thinking ourselves in the way for the attainment of the promise while we are destitute of that holiness which alone can make us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.

363

SERMON XXX.

CHRIST OUR EXAMPLE AND SACRIFICE.

1 PET. ii. 21.

Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps.

OUR Saviour is represented to us throughout Scripture in a two-fold aspect; namely, to use the words of our church, as a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life. Practically to unite these two, constitutes the purity of Christian doctrine, and the excellence of the Christian life. To view the Redeemer as our Sacrifice, without endeavouring to imitate his Example, would lead to a false and unholy security; while to view him only as a Pattern for our imitation, without remembering that he is also the Sacrifice for our sins, the High Priest that can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, the merciful Redeemer who ever liveth to make intercession for us, would naturally incline us either to self-sufficiency

and spiritual pride on the one hand, or, on the other, to terror, and apprehension, and despair. Let us endeavour, by the blessing of God, to unite the two, while we contemplate the great High Priest of our profession, First, As our Sacrifice.

Secondly, As our Example.

First, then, let us view the Redeemer AS OUR SACRIFICE; the great Sin-offering that was to atone for our transgressions. To contemplate him only as a pattern of righteousness, is infinitely too little. He left the right hand of the Majesty on high, he assumed our nature, he wept, and suffered, and expired, not merely to reform sinful man by his example, but also to redeem him by his blood. He was a Prophet; but he was also more than a prophet: he was a High Priest, to make upon the cross, by his one oblation of himself, once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. He is the pattern for our conduct; but he is also the propitiation for our sins.

The text briefly points out two most important circumstances, connected with the sacrifice of Christ:-first, that he suffered; and, secondly, that his sufferings were for us.

1. He suffered.-Trace his progress from the

manger to the cross, and see if ever there were sorrow like unto his sorrow. Without respite or intermission, he travelled on through life in the path of care, and anxiety, and affliction. In his very infancy he was despised and rejected of the Bethlehemites, and his life was sought by Herod. He was afterwards tempted by Satan, subjected to hunger and thirst, and was without a place where to lay his head. At length he was sold by one who called himself a friend and disciple; he was apprehended, arraigned, scourged, and condemned. To conclude the whole, he was led as an outcast from society without the walls of the city, to expire upon the ignominious cross, in company with two malefactors.

The sufferings of his soul were, doubtless, even greater than those of his body. It is said in the Gospel, his soul was heavy. He endured the contradiction of sinners. He beheld men wilfully rejecting his salvation, and persecuting the Lord of life and glory. His very miracles he heard attributed to the agency of Satan, and his holy doctrines condemned as blasphemy against God. Often was he "grieved at the hardness of the people's heart." As righteous Lot was vexed at the filthy conversation of the wicked, so-but in infinitely higher proportion -was the Redeemer wounded through his