every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, (or, as in Lowth's version, "It was exacted, and he was made answerable,") yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."8

While such was the language of prophecy, that of type was almost equally intelligible. The sacrifice of animals even before the flood, when, probably, no use was made of them for food; the burnt offerings made by Noah, Abraham, and Job; the intended sacrifice of Isaac, who was Abraham's only son by Sarah and heir of the promise; the lamb of the passover; the lamb of the daily burntoffering; the bullock and the goat slain for the sins of the people on the day of atonement; the ratification of the covenant with the blood of peace-offerings sprinkled both on the book and on all the people—these and many similar rites, when viewed under the light of the gospel, admit of a clear explanation. In the first place they were plain indications of the principle that repentance has no natural or inherent efficacy to procure forgiveness, and that "without shedding of blood is no remission."1 And secondly, they were the expressive shadows of the Mediator to come,

S Isa. liii, 4-7.

9 It appears that permission to eat animal food was not given to man until after the flood.-See Gen. ix, 3. Comp. i, 29. 1 Heb. ix, 22.

who was to make an atonement for the sins of mankind-whose blood was to cleanse from all sin.

In his personal appearances to the patriarchs as the Angel of the covenant, the Son of God bore the character of a Mediatorone who in his gracious dealings with his people, acted on behalf of God even the Father. But when he became incarnate and was about to commence his ministry, he was introduced by his forerunner to the attention of the people, under the peculiar notion, that he was to make an atonement for sin. "Behold the LAMB OF GOD who taketh away the sin of the world!" 2

Among the many truths which the New Testament declares, this is ever upheld as primary and fundamental, and is wrought into the whole substance of the volume. While the fact of his crucifixion is detailed with great force and exactness by all the four evangelists, the conversations of our Saviour, and the apostolic epistles, contain evidences. at once luminous and abundant, that his death was propitiatory-that "he suffered, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God."

But although the atonement made by the Son of God on the cross is the centre of our subject, it is not his only act of mediation, under the dispensation of the gospel. He mediates between God and man, in all his offices-as our Prophet by whom the truth was revealed to us, and who still teaches 2 John i, 29.

us by his Spirit; as our High Priest, who pleads our cause, bestows on us his daily blessing, and ever lives to make intercession for us; as our Sovereign, who is head over all things to his church; as our Judge to whom we must render the account of our stewardship, and who will finally bestow on his children the gift of everlasting life.

Having thus briefly stated the scriptural doctrines of repentance and mediation, we have now to show that these doctrines agree with experience, and recommend themselves to every candid mind, as reasonable and true.3

I. Nothing can more readily approve itself to our reason, than the testimony of Scripture respecting the acceptableness and necessity of repentance. The sorrow of a child because of transgression against his father, is wellpleasing to the parent as an evidence of sincerity, as an effect of love, and as a pledge of improvement. What then can be more reasonable than the Christian's belief that the penitence of a sinner is approved by our Heavenly Father, and excites the joy of the angels in heaven ?4

Again, if we reflect on our sinful condition by nature, and admit that the heavenly state is one of perfect purity-a state which, in the very nature of things, can be enjoyed only by the righteous-we cannot deny that a

3 On the subject of the following argument, see Butler's Analogy, Part ii. ch. v.

4 Luke xv, 10.

change of mind and (where life is prolonged) an amendment of conduct, must be indispensable to our future happiness.

But salutary and necessary as repentance is proved to be, there is much in the known course of Providence, which plainly denotes, that it is not in itself sufficient to remove the guilt of sin, or to deliver us from its consequences. The fortunes of the spendthrift are ruined. He bitterly regrets his folly and adopts the habits of sobriety and economy. It is most probable, nevertheless, that the ease and comfort of his former condition will never be restored to him. The intemperate man who is hurried by his passions into the excess of personal indulgence, destroys his constitution. He repents and amends, but the deepest penitence, even when accompanied by abstinence from his former habits, will fail to renew his emaciated frame. The criminal who has long persevered in breaking the laws of his country, is arraigned at the bar of justice, and is condemned to imprisonment or death. He repents with all sincerity; but his repentance has no effect in opening the prison-door, or in staying the hand of the

executioner.

It is utterly in vain, therefore, to object against Christianity, that it represents repentance as insufficient of itself to save us from the punishment of our sins; for the same objection would bear with equal force, against that which is already visible in the government of God over mankind. On the

other hand, from an actual knowledge of these analogous cases, and a thousand others of similar character, we conclude that this scriptural view of repentance is both reasonable and true.

If we allow the perfect holiness of God, it is impossible for us to suppose, that a life of which the former part has been vicious, and the latter part virtuous, can be the same in his sight, as a life spent in virtue from beginning to end. But here again we may appeal to experience. The sinner returns with the sacrifice of a broken heart to an offended Deity. Under these circumstances does conscience forego her office of condemning and punishing? Does remorse, the scourge which this just judge employs, abate its force and subside into nothing? So far otherwise, that the deeper the repentance, the more appalling becomes the recollection of past transgression the more intolerable the pain which that recollection occasions. Absolutely necessary as is the penitence of such an offender-approved of God and rejoiced in by angels-it affords no peace to the offender himself. On the contrary it breaks up his former tranquillity, nor can he again find repose, except in the of God-that mercy mercy which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

II. That mediation in the most general sense of the term is natural, no observer of nature can for a moment deny; for a large proportion of the comforts which we enjoy in life, and our very existence itself, are bestowed