direct end of Christ's sufferings, according to the Scriptures; but he died as an expiatory victim, a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, as atonement for all the sins of his chosen, as a ransom to redeem them from their bondage; yea, as a curse, to redeem them that were under the curse. And this view of the atonement is vital to the Christian system. It is plainly the doctrine of the Old as well as the New Testament; and it ever has been the doctrine of every sound part of the Christian church; and it would be easy to show, that the objections to it are either frivolous, or they are such as subvert the gospel of Christ, and bring in another gospel, which exposes the abettors of it to the anathema of Paul. Gal. i. 8.

All the sufferings of Christ should be considered as expiatory, and as constituting the atonement which he undertook to make for his people; and, indeed, his whole state of humiliation, should be considered as belonging to his expiation. When he first felt the pangs incident to infancy, when he went about from day to day, "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," when reproached, slandered, and reviledwhen hungry, thirsty, and weary-when filled with grief at the hardness and perverseness of the people, which drew tears from his eyes-when bathed in his own blood in Gethsemane-when betrayed, bound, dragged to trial-when falsely accused, and condemned-when mocked and reviled-when scourged -when crowned with thorns-when fainting under the cross-when nailed to the tree-when exposed to the profane gaze of the multitude denuded of his garments when exhausted with pain and thirstand above all, when forsaken of God-and when he breathed out his soul in death, he was enduring the penalty of the law. And after he was taken from

the cross and laid in the sepulchre, though he suffered no positive pain, yet he was still bearing the curse or penalty of the law, which was death. And if it be asked for whom did the Redeemer bear all this, he has given the answer, "I lay down my life for the sheep." He loved his church and gave himself for it. But his atonement, considered in its intrinsic value and suitableness, is infinite, and sufficient if applied, to save the whole world.

The sufferings of Christ, being those of a divine. person, have an infinite value; it follows, therefore, that although the punishment of the sinner was everlasting, yet Christ could exhaust the penalty of the law in a limited time; that is, his sufferings and death, though limited to a short period, were more than an equivalent for the eternal sufferings of those for whom he laid down his life. And in making this vicarious atonement, it was not at all necessary that the Mediator should be the subject of remorse and despair; for these are not essential to the penalty of the law, but merely incidental, arising from the circumstances and moral character of the sufferer. But it was necessary that our substitute should suffer a painful and accursed death, for this was specifically threatened. Some have supposed that Christ endured something of the torments of the damned after his death, as the creed says, "he descended into hell;" but the word hell here signifies no more than the place of departed spirits, or the grave. Christ's sufferings were finished on the cross; and on that very day his spirit entered into paradise. Luke xxiii. 43. It cannot be reasonably doubted, but that all those for whom Christ offered himself a sacrifice, will eventually be saved.

CHAPTER XX.

RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION OF CHRIST.

THE blessed Redeemer, having been three days in the grave, according to his own oft repeated prediction; that is, a part of three days, which, according to the usual method of computing time, was reckoned for three days, rose from the dead, and during forty days, which he remained upon the earth, appeared a number of times to his disciples, and gave them not only ocular but palpable evidence of the reality of his resurrection. And that there might remain no doubt of his identity, he showed them his hands and his feet, and even condescended to permit them to put their fingers into the print of the nails, and to thrust their hands into the opening made in his side by the soldier's spear, after his death. And, on one occasion, he appeared to above five hundred of his disciples convened in Galilee, on a mountain, where he had promised before his crucifixion to meet them. As the disciples had not understood his predictions respecting his death and resurrection, they were very slow to believe even their own senses. On this account, the risen Saviour took pains to remove every shadow of doubt, and in several instances ate and drank in their presence, just as before his death. This time was also improved to give the Apostles all needful instructions respecting their ministry, after he should leave them.

At the expiration of the forty days, he led his disciples out to mount Olivet, where he blessed them, and was parted from them, and carried up to heaven, in the midst of thousands of angels, according to what the Holy Ghost says, in the sixty-eighth Psalm, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them;" which passage Paul expressly applies to Christ. (Ephes. iv. 8, 9.)

Until the time of his ascension, as far as appears, Christ's body remained the same as before his death; but as a body of flesh and blood, though free from every stain, is not suited to the heavenly state, it is reasonable to suppose, that Christ's body now underwent such a sudden change, as we are informed will pass on the bodies of the saints who shall be found alive upon earth when Christ shall make his second appearance. Before his ascension, he had flesh and bones, which could be handled and felt; but now he assumed that glorious body in which he appears in heaven, and in which every eye shall behold him when he shall come in the clouds of heaven, with all his holy angels, to judge the world.

That Christ appeared, after his resurrection, in the same body which was nailed to the cross, and laid in the sepulchre, is as evident from the sacred Scriptures, as words can make it. Luke gives the following explicit testimony: "Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your

hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet." And though the fact is not mentioned, we may certainly infer, that Christ's body underwent a change before he entered heaven; for we are assured that "flesh and blood do not inherit the kingdom of heaven;" and as this is true in regard to believers, it is equally so respecting Christ. Still it is the self same body which is now in heaven at the right hand of God, which suffered on the cross-but glorified.

CHAPTER XXI.

MEDIATORIAL OFFICES OF CHRIST.

THE offices of Christ have long been divided into three; the prophetical, sacerdotal, and regal; and this is not an arbitrary distinction, but is founded in the wants of men; for he who undertakes to save sinners must be qualified to deliver them from their ignorance, from their guilt, and from their depravity; and he must have power to protect them from all their enemies, and raise them from death and the grave, and bring them to the possession of eternal life. When Christ was upon earth, most of his time, during his public ministry, was spent in teaching. And in the exercise of this office, "He taught with authority, and not as the scribes." Even in the judgment of his enemies, "never man spake like this man." But, when about