abhorrence from the sin offering, bearing the load of human guilt and woe. And here his human nature was bruised and broken indeed, till that bitter exclamation was extorted from him, "My God,

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my God, why hast thou forsaken me," Mark xv. 34. Now these very words were the words of prophecy, put into the lips of one of old, as declarative of the extent and sharpness of Christ's suffering: and though they happened last in order of time, yet they are prophecied first, as being the worst part of the curse which had fallen

upon man, and the worst part of the curse which Christ endured instead of man. See Psalm xxii. 1. I can remember that in the days of my ignorance of spiritual things, I often reasoned on this passage, and considered it more as the language of triumph, than the effusions of sorrow, from a sin-bearing Saviour; and thus I would then have it in my own mind. "Is it for this, thou hast forsaken me?" It is true, Christ's death was a death of triumph, but the punishment due to sin, must be fully borne-and the language," It is finished," broke not from his lips, till after he had complained of desertion from God: I confess my method of reading which I then adopted would spoil this solemn scene, would seem to prove that Christ was not deserted of God; and from thence to prove that our sin merited not God's complete desertion. But I abhor now a reading of such dangerous tendency as this must be, in an infidel, or even an inexperienced hand; and would

contend that Christ did suffer in the fullest sense, desertion from God, as a part of that punishment which our sins deserved, and which he as our sinoffering endured on the cross, and it was the keen sense of this desertion, which made him cry out to his Father, "Why hast thou forsaken me.”

Now from all these fore-mentioned things was there abundant cause, for that sorrow, anguish, and extreme agony which Christ bore upon the cross. It was our rebellion and sin which caused him to suffer, in all that he suffered from the cradle to the cross, which embittered all those sufferings to such a degree, as no mortal ever suffered beside, or as no one without some divine support could possibly bear.

Behold also Christ suffered in those mental powers in which man had sinned, in which the of fices and function of reason, conscience, understanding, will, and affections are fulfilled, and in which all these had gone astray.

Nor let the wounds his body suffered on the cross be forgotten:

See from his head, his hands, his sides,
Mercy and love flow mingled down.

Nor let it be forgotten, that all the wounds of Christ were inflicted upon those parts of the body, which had most signalized themselves in the ways of sins and errors.

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The head of Christ was wounded with a crown of thorns, because man in his sin shooteth out his lip and shaketh his head against his Maker, Psin. xxii. 7. and this practice also was visible when Christ expired in anguish on the tree, for then many "viled him wagging their heads," Matt. xxvii. 39. and Mark xv. 29. The hands of Crist were wounded; because the works of men's hands are idols, wood and stone; because " our hands are "full of blood," Isaiah i. 15. and because we "do "evil with both hands earnestly," Micah vii. 3. The feet of Christ were wounded; because the feet of men run to evil, Prov. i. 16. and because by nature the feet of men are swift to shed blood, Rom. iii 15. And this might be observed in the speedy destruction of Abel by his brother Cain: for the first offspring of Adam ran to slay his brother, and also the destruction of Abel by his brother is the - first crime recorded in sacred history after the fall. And in the description given of a wicked man, we read this; "A wicked man speaketh with his feet," Prov. vi. 12, 13. And what can be the meaning of such a remarkable expression, but that he so loves the ways of sin, and so delights to walk therein, that his character may be read in his conduct, and that the actions he does are so flagrant that they speak for themselves? The side of Christ also was wounded, as being a very vital part, and so near the seat of life, whence may be argued, that the sword of justice follows the sinner till it hath

slain him; till it also has a proof of his death; as the blood and water which flowed together from the side of Christ, proves that he was really dead, and that so justice was satisfied in his finished atonement and sin-offering for us. I observe also, that before Christ's crucifixion his temples and forehead were torn with a rugged crown of thorns. Now if we consult the tokens or signs by which the leprosy was discerned under the Levitical law, we shall find they were often observable in the forchead; "If "there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a "white reddish sore; it is a leprosy sprung up in "his bald head, or his bald forehead. He is a "leprous man, he is unclean," Levit. xiii. 42. And the leprosy in the forehead was often sent as a punishment for some notorious offence: as may be observed in the case of Uzziah, king of Judah, who endeavoured to force his way to burn incense in the temple; when he was struck with a leprosy in his forehead, and remained a leper to the day of his death; see 2 Chron. xxvi. 19, 20.

Now if Christ, thus suffered pain and sorrow in our stead, how dreadful must the wound be, which sin has made in the peace of man! But let it be observed the sufferings and sorrows of Christ, do by no means preclude or forbid in God's people, a godly repentance and sorrow for sin, although it frees from the pain and anguish of a troubled, perplexed, and wounded conscience in such a degree as the wicked do often endure, when they seek rest and

find none, and also frees from that second death, which the ungodly must suffer in their own persons for ever. A godly sorrow becometh every Christian; such a sorrow as shall give a deep and abiding recollection of what we once were, with a grateful sense that a blessed and heavenly change has taken place upon us,—such a sorrow as by setting before us the terrors of the law, shall lead us, despairing of justification by the deeds of the law, to take refuge in Christ, feeling that by his wounds, his pains, his sufferings, his sorrows, his agonies, his blood, he hath opened such a tide of love and mercy, of pardon and peace, as shall never cease to flow, till all his elect are justified therein and fitted for glory.

But I hasten to another branch of Christ's doctrine.

19th. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John xiv. 12.

Faith in Christ is the foundation of all good works, for without faith the heart is not in an acceptable state before God, and how can any offering be accepted from a heart in avowed enmity and open rebellion. Faith in Christ it was observed before, produced obedience to the Father, both in the affairs of providence and grace. But not only is faith the foundation of obedience, but also of every good work, properly so called in the sight of