in the hearing of all subsequent ages, and said to him, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And hence the apostle says, "Was not Abraham our father justified by faith, when he offered up his son Isaac upon the altar?"* That is, when it was in his heart to do so.

Thus we see that faith in an atoning sacrifice lay at the foundation of the patriarchal religion. In the same faith walked Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, all the patriarchs, and all the pious under their teaching and guardianship, living and dying in expectation of redemption from sin through an atoning sacrifice.

3. THE RELIGION OF MOSES AND THE PROPHETS, The very first thing done, after the bringing of the Israelites up out of the house of bondage, was to recognize the atoning sacrifice for sin. "And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him, out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man

of

you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt-sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering, and it shall be accepted for him, to make atonement for him."t

An order of priesthood was instituted for the express purpose of offering this typical atonement for the sins of the people. The emblem of the great atonement must never be omitted; hence Israel's altars perpetually smoked. The suppliant for mercy laid his hand upon the head of the animal, while he penitentially confessed his sins; and then the spotless victim was slain for an atoning sacrifice. To this the poet refers in that beautiful hymn—

"My faith would lay her hand

On that dear head of thine;
While like a penitent I stand,
And there confess my sin.

"Believing we rejoice

To see the curse remove;

We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice,

And sing his bleeding love."

What was thus typified by the ordinances of Jewish worship, was also the burden of the prophets. They every where speak of Christ as coming to suffer and die for the sins of men. This was in their view the great object of his advent. In Zechariah we read, "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is my fellow; smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad."* Christ informs us that this prophecy refers to himself. "Then saith Jesus unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night; for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad."+ "After three score and two weeks," says

Daniel, "Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself."* Isaiah says, "He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,""he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."—" He is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter ;”. "He was cut off out of the land of the living;-for the transgression of my people was he stricken." It "pleased Jehovah to bruise him," and to "make his soul on offering for sin."+

That these prophecies refer to Christ, is certain from Acts viii. 32. The Eunuch was sitting and reading in his chariot the prophet Isaiah. This was the scripture" He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth." And the Eunuch answered Philip, and said, "I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus." Thus an inspired writer has expounded these prophecies as referring to Jesus Christ, and as setting him forth to be an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men. He was in

the prophetic eye to be led as a Lamb to the slaughter, and his soul was to be made an offering for sin. And observe, it was under this preaching of Christ as an atoning Saviour, that the Eunuch was converted. Thus was the religion of Moses and the prophets founded on the atoning blood of Christ.

He

4. THE RELIGION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. was the messenger or forerunner of Christ, predicted by the prophet, sent to prepare his way and make his paths straight.* He introduces Christ into the world, with these words, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." A lamb was the well known victim offered upon the altar for a sinoffering. Had the prominent idea respecting Christ been that of a teacher, the emblem of a lamb would not have been employed. A lamb is not an emblem of knowledge, but of innocent suffering. Christ then takes away the sin of the world, not mainly by his teaching, which any other man could be inspired to do as well as he, but by his death, as prefigured by the bleeding lamb. This is what none but Christ could do. Paul could teach, when inspired by the Holy Ghost, as well as Christ; but Paul could not die for us, "the just for the unjust;" for he was himself a sinner, and needed an atonement, as well as we. Hence, while we have many teachers and martyrs, we have but one atoning Saviour-one LAMB OF GOD, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is the grand and glorious peculiarity of Christ's redemptive

* Mal. iii. 1.

work, as proclaimed by his herald. "And I saw and bare record," again he says, "that this is the Son of God. Again the next day after, John stood, and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD!"* What volumes of meaning in this short sentence -As much as to say, God has now provided the Lamb for sacrifice. The types are ended; the altars of Israel are no longer to smoke; the faith of Abraham is here realized; the real Lamb of God has at length appeared.

5. THE RELIGION OF JESUS CHRIST. Through his whole life, the mind of Jesus seems to have been charged with the great idea of being made an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men. So far as appears, he What he did teach,

taught but little; he wrote none. is comprised mostly in his short sermon on the mount, and a few parables; which are little else than a summary recapitulation of what had been taught by Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets. He said expressly that he came not to teach a new religion, but to fulfil the religion already taught. He rebuked the traditions of men, which had been allowed to obscure its lustre, and pointed the unbelieving Jew to his own sacred writings. He told his disciples that he had a work to do, and was straightened till it be accomplished :—and that this was to suffer, die, and be raised from the dead, that remission of sins might be preached in his name. "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and

*John i. 29.