shed for us. And because he ordained the sacrament of the supper for a perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of his death, and of the benefits which we receive thereby; I say, for this reason we may be sure it is necessary that we should remember what Christ is to us at all other times, and have it deeply imprinted in our hearts, that reconciliation to God, by his death, is the very belief which makes us Christians.,. But, though we must always so remember Christ as to be well-grounded in this persuasion, that we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins; and the words which he made use of when he ordained this sacrament, as I am telling you, more especially point out this doctrine to us as the ground of our hope, and were intended to confirm us in this belief; yet we must also remember, and be well aware, what sin is which crucified him, and could be atoned with nothing but the inconceivable pains and sufferings of the Son of God. It is made little account of by the world, and sleeps quietly in our bosoms, and the breaking of a commandment is as nothing in our eyes; but see here what an evil and bitter thing it is, and how it tried all the patience even of the God-man, when he was to bear the load of it, and offer himself to the stroke of divine justice. "My soul," says he, " is exceeding sor❝rowful, even unto death." Not merely from the apprehension of dying, or the pain of the cross considered in itself; but because he was to take up our sins thereon, to suffer what we should have suffered, and feel the whole weight of God's vengeance, and our punishment, in his soul and body. Oh! there is great force of instruction in the words, and a thousand tongues to warn us of our danger, of the curse which cleaves to us for sin, and the horrible, unknown pains we must endure, if we are not delivered from the condemnation of it before we die. Let us not, therefore, mistake, nor build our hope of sal 1 vation by Christ on deceitful grounds, by dividing his doctrine, or leaving out any part of it. If he was wounded for our transgressions, and had our iniquities laid upon him, by the appointment and will of God, we that repent and trust in him shall not suffer for them over again in our own persons; for "God is faithful" to his covenant with Christ, and in him with all believers, "and just to forgive us our sins," because the penalty of them has been paid. And this, which I cannot repeat too often, is the faith, comfort, and rejoicing of Christians, that our ten thousand sins will be forgiven us, as surely as we believe in him for this end. This, I say again and again, is the glory of our religion; the true knowledge of Christ; the Spirit's testimony to us concerning him, and should be the element we live in; the joy of our hearts; and working at the root of all we do. But if sin is unfelt, unfeared, and unrepented of; if we have no sense of the evil and danger of it, nor dread of God's displeasure against us for it, in vain do we talk of believing in Christ for the remission of sins; we can possibly have no such faith, no working of desire towards it, nor desire of the mercy which comes by it, great as it is, and greatly wanted by us, any more than we would go to a physician to be cured of a distemper which we have not, or sue to the king for the pardon of life, when we know it never was forfeited. If we die in this state, what we read of Christ's agonies and sufferings, under the weight of sin then laid upon him, (and read for this end, that we may know the extreme curse of sin, and never feel it in our own persons,) will be our portion for ever and ever. Let these three things, therefore, be always kept in mind as the sum and substance of what we should know and believe in order to salvation: 1. That the wages of sin is death, even death eternal. 2. That the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 3. That no man has a title to this gift, nor right to believe that his sins are forgiven, who does not repent of them, and endeavour, in truth and sincerity, to live by the rule which Christ has given him. Let it be our daily prayer, and the ground of all our requests to God, that we may be established more and more in these great truths of Scripture, and make them our guide to the glory which Christ has purchased for all that unfeignedly love him. PRAYER. Almighty God, who madest thy blessed Son to be sin for us, that in his own person he might bear and take it away; make us know and feel in the bottom of our hearts, that we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, and that there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. Let thy Spirit enable us to say that Jesus is the Lord, to the praise of the glory of thy grace, and that we, whose consciences by sin are accused, by thy merciful pardon may be absolved. Let the sense of our vileness and condemnation in sin bring us to repentance, and our repentance to Christ, and Christ to thee, washed in his blood, and purified unto obedience; that, walking worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, we may hold fast the hope of everlasting life, and receive the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls, by the same Jesus Christ. Amen. SECTION LXII. ST. MATTHEW, xxvi. 58. BUT Peter followed him afar off. Now his fears began to work strongly. But think not only of Peter. Alas! it is the case of many; though they pretend to follow Christ, it is a great way off, as to any lively faith, or pure obedience. Ver. 60. But found none.-It was necessary that Christ's innocence should be declared. - Ver. 63. But Jesus held his peace. It was necessary that he should not stand upon his innocence, because his intention was to suffer; neither, as being in the place of sinners, and bearing their sins, would he deny the guilt he had taken upon himself. Ver. 64. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said. It is as thou hast said; I do not deny it; I am. He was silent to the charge of guilt; he could not be silent here, without denying himself to be the Son of God. And, he farther tells them, that they should one day see him, who now appeared before them as a malefactor, in all his power and majesty, as the Son of man, him spoken of by the prophet Daniel, the Messiah, or Son of God. "Every eye shall see him!" and those to their inexpressible joy, who have seen him here in the glory of his salvation. Ver. 66. They answered and said, He is guilty of death. As taking our sin he was, and submitted to the sentence; and we never believe in him, till we know that we deserve to suffer death. Ver. 67, 68. Then did they spit in his face, &c.— Turn not thy whole indignation against the vile, abominablyinsulting Jew; but if thy sins had their full share in putting the Son of God to this open shame, fetch a deep groan for thyself. O Jesus, how I long to imitate thee, to possess thy meekness, to be happy in thy patience! I see, in this single instance, what it is to be born again, and what need there is for it. When we can do as thou didst, bear the insolent stroke, the opprobrious taunt, the contemptuous spitting, calm and unruffled, we are new creatures, have a new nature, and a joyful experience of the wisdom that cometh down from above. Ver. 75. And Peter remembered the words of Jesus.He had a root of faith in him, and though he had fallen grievously, could remember the words of Jesus for his rising again. Lord, when we fall, raise us up again, though it be with bitter sorrow; but keep us from falling, lest we never repent. -And he went out, and wept bitterly. - Retire this moment into thyself. Think how soon Peter's repentance followed his sin, and how long thine has been deferred; how bitterly he wept, and what cause thou hast for it; how graciously he was received to favour again, and what a Saviour thou hast to wipe away thy tears. LECTURE. You must not think, dearly beloved, either that your ordinary failings and infirmities prove you to be out of the covenant of grace, or that grosser sins are so deadly, that if repented of they cannot be forgiven. This was once matter of controversy among Christians, and some, from mistaken passages of Scripture, warmly contended that the sins of believers were unpardonable; or, at least, that they were not to be received to the benefit of absolution by the church, and must be left to the unknown mercy of God. But this opinion was generally condemned, and Peter's case lies full against it. You may fall like him; you must rise again by repentance as he did; and if you do, will be received to favour, as he was, and as high in the esteem of Christ as ever; perhaps more watchful, more faithful, more zealous for the time to come, certainly more sensible of your weakness, more diffident of yourselves, and more thankful for the grace of the |