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heaviness." Because of Thy love to us sinners, and of Thine infinite power with the Father, hear us, good Lord, we humbly beseech Thee and all honour and glory be to Thy holy Name for ever and ever. Amen.

XII.

THE LORD JESUS "FINISHING THE TRANSGRESSION."

ST. JOHN xix. part of verse 30.

SIMPLE as are those three words-"It is finished," they contain within them more meaning than man could express in a world full of volumes. The holy Saviour in His race of suffering had now reached the goal. He had arrived at the point to which the prophet Daniel had referred in the words: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal

up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." I know not where to find in the whole Bible three words more precious to the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are a perfect treasury of all heavenly blessings: for, to the raptured gaze of true faith, they unfold as the property of the saved sinner through grace, the joy, the peace, the holiness, the happiness, the security of the heavenly mansions -and that for ever and ever. They are three words sufficient to make the hearts of all who know and

They are three

value them aright leap within them. words that, but for our miserably poor sense of eternal blessedness, should thrill us with bliss, whenever they occur to our memories, and should lead us, above all things, to break out in the language of fervent thanksgiving to Him who uttered them: "Whom have I in heaven but Thee," (in blessed union with the Father and the Holy Spirit)" and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee." All that triumphant burst of thanksgiving may be traced to them, which is given us in the Apocalypse (Rev. v. 8-10) as the new song of the "ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands," the angels, the beasts, and the elders. "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us

unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." And oh that now from the depths of our hearts, and hereafter in heaven, we may join in the celestial chorus that follows: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." "Blessing and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever."

Let us look a little into these glorious words, dear friend; and God grant they may have power to disperse all the clouds that overhang you in this your sickness, that they may impart to us both the deepest joy in God, and that we may fervently rejoice over them together.

"It is finished," said the Saviour, referring to those counsels which He had held with the Father before the world was; when, in holy conclave, the Trinity in Unity fore-determined the salvation of the world through the bitter sacrifice of the Son. It is very precious to think of those mysterious purposes, and especially should they be a source of peace and joy to the sick believer. For he will feel, through grace, that his sickness is no mere accident, into which he has fallen by pure chance. No; it is an event fore-determined for him as a means of bringing him the nearer to God; a means of taking him away, for a time, from the corrupting influences of

the world, that he may "lay hold upon the hope set before him in the gospel." We may see your sickness, as decreed in those mysterious counsels of God countless ages ago, in St. Paul's noble words: "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified." The blessed Saviour had now fully expiated all sin for those who believe: He had put it away as it had been decreed He should do, "by the sacrifice of Himself." He had accomplished the painful, the humiliating part of the great work of man's redemption. Nothing more remained for Him but joy, satisfaction of His yearning love for us sinners, and the return to His Father's glory-therefore, "He bowed His head, and gave up the Ghost." Notice the order of these words; not "He gave up the Ghost, and bowed His head." But He bowed His head first, that He might make manifest the truth of His own saying, "No man taketh My life from Me, but I lay it down of Myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again."

"It is finished." And at the word (only one word in the Greek language in which it was uttered) "behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom." Who cannot see the significance of that event? How clearly it points out, effected as it was when the Redeemer had died, while the earth was quaking, while the rocks were rending, and the graves being opened, the truth of the Apostle's declaration, "That the law was a shadow of good things to come, but that the body" (or substance) "is of Christ"! Now, my brother, if we truly believe, Sinai has terrors for us no longer. The Lord, in whom we believe, has silenced for us all its thunders. Calvary is a mountain of peace for us, a type of the mountain of the redeemed, which is reserved as the inheritance of all who fall asleep in Jesus. To us, no less than to the Hebrews, does St. Paul speak, when he says: "Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (for they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake :) but ye are come

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