WHY CHRIST SUFFERED.

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and reconcile us to God." He expiated our guilt. He evinced his love to the Father and to us, by bearing the wrath of God due to us on account of our sins. When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them."

"It hath pleased the Father, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself."* These texts must now suffice as specimens of what the sacred writers teach on this subject. It is true that in the Scriptures reconciliation is ascribed to God the Father, as He loves us and determines to give His Son to die for us, and also to the Son, as he obeys the Father, and renders satisfaction, and intercedes for us and in us, and believers are said to reconcile themselves to God by receiving Jesus Christ as he is offered in the Gospel.

Again, all the rites, types, and texts that speak of and set forth Jesus Christ as the propitiation, the propitiatory in his blood, are in proof of Christ's sufferings to take away sin. The essential idea of atonement is covering in order to an agreement, or an at-one-ment. The covering of the Ark of the covenant was called the Mercy-Seatfirst, because it covered the law, and, secondly, because it offered mercy to the believer. And hence Christ is himself our Mercy-Seat. He covers our sins with his own perfect righteousness, so that they may not condemn us in the sight of God. He sprinkles us with his blood. And

* Rom. v. 10; 2 Cor. v. 18, 19; Col. i. 19, 20.

he erects a throne of grace, on which God sits to hear our prayers, and grant us pardon and eternal life.

Finally, WHAT BENEFIT do we derive from the sufferings of Christ under Pontius Pilate? What are the results? Our standards generally sum up saving knowledge as consisting of a knowledge of our misery, deliverance from it, and gratitude for this deliverance. Rom. vii. 24, 25.

See

The sufferings of Jesus are a picture of our misery from the evil of sin. All this He suffered for our sins. How awful their demerits, when such punishment was endured by God's own Son on their account! If suck things were done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

How should we hate sin? It was the sole cause of the sorrows of our Lord. It is said, you know [see Witsius], and correctly, that by the shadow projected from the pyramids, we may estimate their height. So it is by Christ's death and Christ's sacrifice we should estimate the evil of sin; and by what sin is, we may estimate the length, and depth, and breadth, and height of the atonement through which we may obtain forgiveness. It was our sins that crucified Jesus, the Lord of glory. Neither Judas, nor the Scribes, nor the chief priests and rulers of the people, nor the Jewish populace, nor Herod, nor Pontius Pilate could have done any thing against the Son of God; neither scourges nor thorns nor nails would have been prepared to torment him; nor would the prince of darkness have attacked him with all his forces -unless He had taken upon Himself our sins, which could not be expiated in any other way. our Lord dislikes, let us abstain from. mands, let us do. Let us take up our cross and cheerfully

Whatever then
What He com

SYMPATHY OF OUR HIGH PRIEST.

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follow Him. He has set us an example. "The chafe comes not by wearing chains, but feeling them." There are many great truths which are lost amid the noise and glittering mazes of the world. It is only among the iron facts of life we are able to grind them out. To know what poverty is, we must taste it—we must try its temptations, grudges, and gnawing shame-we must freeze with it, test its sleepless hunger—our own crippled backs must ache over the same long furrows, or bend over the same straight benches. It is on this principle our great High Priest is able to succor us when tried. "He knows what sore temptations mean. He has felt the same.'

"How was He,

The Blessed One, made perfect? Why, by grief

The fellowship of voluntary grief—

He read the tear-stained book of human souls-"

He poured out his soul unto death for us. He carried our griefs-bore our sins. Let us love Him-believe in Him -live and die for Him And to Him be all the glory, world without end. Amen.

VI.

JESUS CHRIST WAS CRUCIFIED.

"When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

"And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

"And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.

"And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.

“Then saith Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?

"And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

"Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.

"And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.

"When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

"Then answered all the peoplo and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

"Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.

"And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

KING CLOVIS' ZEAL.

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"And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

“And they spit upon him, and took the reed and smote him on the head.

"And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

"And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

"And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,

They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

“And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet; They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there; and set up over his head his accusation, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."-Matt. xxvii. 1, 2, 11-14 and 22-37.

It is written of Clovis, the first king of France, that when he heard the Bishop of Rheims read an account of the crucifixion of our Lord, he exclaimed, laying his hand on his sword: "Had I been there with my trusty Franks, I should soon have dispatched that impious rabble." Nor is it improbable that there are many now who are more ready to draw their swords for the name of Jesus, than they are willing to live for Him and love their fellow-men for His sake. It is desirable for us to have as noble a feeling for and sympathy with our Lord as the founder of the Frank monarchy, while at the same time we should evince it in some more Christian-like way. "They mourn the dead aright, who live as they would have us do."

St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Philippians, says he counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, and that I might “know him," says he, "and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;