and exclaim, "He loved me and gave Himself for me." Well, then, "who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?" See, then, what a blessed end and design there was in Christ's sufferings; that the imputation of His righteousness should be unhesitatingly proclaimed to, and received by, thousands and millions of Adam's lost posterity, and that the condemnation which all His Church deserved should be endured by Himself to be everlastingly removed from her; and consequently the challenge is given to the whole world, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" They may bring their false charges as often as they like; but God will not hearken to them; our glorious Advocate will answer them. Pause a moment over this precious fact, and ask the question, "Will this glorious Sufferer consent to be disappointed? Will He allow one of those for whom He bled Himself to lie down under condemnation, and everlastingly perish? Will He suffer one whom the Father gave Him in charge to be plucked out of His hands?" In the 10th chapter of the gospel by John, He Himself says and I believe Him in preference to all the Arminians that ever had an existence in the world-" My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life;" and, in plain words, He adds, "they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." There they are, safe enough. Glory to His dear name, their justification stands in His righteousness, their acceptance in His person, their sanctification in His nature, receiving and possessing it, their glorification in His faithfulness. So that not one for whom He bled and died can by possibility fail of obtaining everlasting life and glory. Condemnation is gone. The curse is gone. Consequently the punishment is gone, for Jesus endured it; and there remains for the family of the living God eternal life and peace as the gift of God, in the name and person of Jesus Christ.

This brings me to the closing thought, that the precious Sufferer of whom we speak has secured the eternal salvation of all that the Father gave Him. Now you all know what a deeply-rooted abhorrence I have to everything like terms, conditions, and contingencies in the great matter of salvation. The systems of theology which set them forth are a curse, a plague, and a nuisance upon the earth. For it is Jehovah's fixed purpose in grace, Jesu's perfect work and righteousness, the Holy Spirit's infallible operations and communications from the fulness of Christ, to render eternal life and salvation a matter of absolute certainty. I can read in my Bible again and again, that this is the promise He has made to us, even eternal life. I can read concerning our blessed Redeemer, that God has given us life eternal, and that that life is in His Son. Can anything be freer than a gift? Can anything be more secure than a gift, especially if it be laid up in His dear Son? Therefore the Son says, "Because I live, they shall live also," for the life is in Him, "hid with Christ in God." Moreover, “he that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life," and "the wrath of God abideth on him." You need not tell me how many or how great your sins have been, or how long you have been wallowing in them; to what lengths you have gone, how long you have been in legal bondage, or how deceitful your heart is. Only come forward with this one thing-Has the Holy Ghost made you willing to accept of eternal life and everlasting salvation,

without creature doings, and upon the same terms as Mary Magdalene, the thief on the cross, Manasseh, and Saul accepted it, namely, as the free, unmerited gift of God? Has the Holy Ghost brought you to feel deeply your need of that salvation? to feel that nothing else can reach your case but "the salvation which is in Christ Jesus," which is declared to be connected with eternal glory? Sure I am, that He will never disappoint the desire that is created for it, or reject the ardent longings and fervent prayers which you may put up for it. Attempt to buy it, and you cannot get it. Be willing to receive it as a free gift, and neither sin nor Satan can deprive you of it. Attempt to merit it, and be sure your merits will all be despised, and only heap punishment upon your head. Ask it as a free gift, and God will not deny it. "Ask and you shall receive," is His own statement con

cerning it.

Now I think I have brought you good news this morning. I think I have stated the truth this morning, that the end of Christ's sufferings is the salvation of all His Church. So that when the last elect vessel of mercy is gathered in, and all appear before the throne of God, the glorious covenant Head shall be able to say to the Father, "Here am I, and the children," all of them, "whom thou gavest me." I beseech you, beloved, look well to the grand security and certainty of these things. This salvation is worthy of a God, and every way suited to man's ruin. It shuts out contingencies, disappoints the devil, plucks the lawful captives from his grasp, and leads them to the enjoyment of eternal bliss and glory, along with the precious, glorious covenant Head. Then, whilst you and I look with solemnity and awe upon the deep sufferings of Christ, and censure Judas, the chief priests, and the scribes, do not let us forget to censure self also, and say concerning it, whilst Jesus hangs in the view of faith upon the cross, "He loved me, and gave Himself for me. Those agonies were the consequences of my sins, and my salvation is the result of those agonies. Those agonies were on my behalf, and in my name; and my pleadings shall be in His behalf and in His name. Those swords and those ruffian hands by which, and into which, He was betrayed, were all permitted in the wise order and arrangement of God's providence to bring about the security, the atonement, the rescue, the redemption, the acceptance, and the eternal salvation of my soul." So that it must not only be a subject of joy and confidence now, but to all eternity, and I expect to be engaged in that song, a copy of which He has sent us down from heaven," Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

May He command a blessing upon His word, and His great name shall have all the praise.

Delivered in Grove Chapel, Camberwell, Sunday Morning, April 8, 1849, BY THE REV. JOSEPH IRONS.

"And they shall scourge Him, and put Him to death: and the third day He shall rise again."-Luke xviii. 33.

ALL hail thou glorious Lord, Redeemer of Thy chosen band, who looked composedly with confidence on such a scene of woe before Thine eyes! The scourgers scourged the Lamb of God, and Christ the Lamb of God looked forward to it feeling no dismay. A death the most terrific, cruel, painful, ignominious, was to be endured, and Jesus never shrank; but meets the solemn scene that darkened yonder brilliant orb, that burst the tombs, that shook the earth, astounded all around, as if He were a lamb. What, must the thongs lie by almost within His view, the rods too plough upon His precious back, and Jesus know it all: and yet press on to bear my load of guilt, redeem my soul, and bring eternal glory to the Father's name and His? I wonder not that those around heard with deep dismay. I marvel not that they should cry, this shall not be. I wonder not that all the world around, aghast at such a scene, in breathless watchfulness should wonder what must be the cause of such a death, But Jesus says, they shall do it-Jesus says, "they shall scourge Him"-Jesus says, they shall "put Him to death." What else? Oh blissful news -the news of the day on which we are met-"the third day He shall rise again." We meet to exult with the disciples that the Lord is risen, is risen indeed, and "hath appeared unto many." Hath He appeared unto you? Have you come on purpose to see the place where He lay? Have you come on purpose to see the risen glorious Lord manifesting Himself to the souls of His disciples? May the Published in Weekly Numbers, 1d. and Monthly Parts, price 5d.

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Holy Ghost anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see His beauty, adore His person, confide in His official character and perfect work, and then retire from His house, singing, “ this is my Lord and my God." He was scourged, He was put to death, He did rise the third day; and now He lives for ever, for death hath no more dominion over Him. There is something peculiarly interesting in the fact that our Lord seemed to take so much delight in the contemplation of this last appalling scene of His tabernacling upon earth. How often had He gone to the spot! It is said that Jesus often resorted thither with His disciples; as if He would measure every inch of the ground, and mark each spot where His blood should fall. How often also did He invite the attention of His disciples to it! How emphatical was His language, when He said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished." Now I cannot imagine that a mere bathing could have straitened Him much. But when I view the baptism of which He speaks as the outpouring of the Divine wrath; as the descent of the cataracts of infinite vengeance upon His holy person; as the pouring out of His soul unto death, I can understand how this baptism would exceedingly straiten Him in His humanity. And yet, though He knew the hour, and the scene, and the extent of the suffering, blessings upon His holy name, He often referred to it in His conversations with His disciples, preached of it in His discourses, approached the spot to make it familiar to Himself, and at length went voluntarily forth into the garden, and said, "I am here-I came here for this purpose." In reading your New Testaments, I pray you fix your attention upon this prominent and striking feature of our Lord's character when upon earth; that from the commencement to the close of His ministry He made Himself familiar with the agonizing spot, with the scene on which He should be uplifted upon the cross, that He might draw all men unto Him.

From the words of my text I propose this morning, as the Lord shall give me liberty, to lead on your attention a little further with regard to His death. I beseech you to mark then the solemn statement of my text, so positively asserted, " They shall scourge Him, and put Him to death." Then we will make an inquiry relative to the unparalleled love displayed in this. And lastly come to the point of this day's commemoration, Easter-day, the triumphant resurrection, “He shall rise again ;" and that too at a given period, "the third day."

I.-Now, first of all, let me pursue the train of thought relative to the death of our precious Christ. And could it not have been avoided? Could it not have been dispensed with? Could not the "only-begotten of the Father," the " express image" of the Father, yea, "the brightness of His glory," have been spared such a scene of woe? No. And why? If I were to view salvation and redemption as promiscuous matters, as some divines do, I should have said that He might have been spared; but if I view the fact that He was held responsible in His own bond for the entire and eternal salvation of His own Church, then I come to the conclusion that thus it must be. Then I come to the conclusion of which He spoke after His resurrection, "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" It must be so, and it ought to be so, that is His own statement. And however we may censure Pilate for his perfidy, the Jews for their hypocrisy, the Roman soldiers for their cruelty, and our own souls for

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their sinfulness, which was the cause of it all, yet we must look beyond all this, and see that there were an ought," a "needs be," and a "must" arising out of the fact that He was held responsible in law and justice to all the persons and perfections of Deity on the behalf of His whole Church, and that there was no being to whom that responsibility could be transferred. We glory in the thought that the covenant bond of Jesus had arranged the whole matter, and that all the sheep were given into His hands; that even when they all went astray (Isa. liii.), and turned every one to his own way, He being held responsible for them, the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of them all. We cannot find a firm footing for faith anywhere but in the responsibility of Christ. Say as much as you please about man's responsibility; you never hear me deny it. Say as much as you please about the creature's responsibility; I do not mean to utter a single syllable in argument against it. But I must insist upon this, that all the creature's responsibility can do for him is to damn him. Take the responsibility of a poor insolvent debtor, which responsibility renders him liable to imprisonment; apply to him, and tell him he is responsible, and must pay his creditors. "I cannot," he replies, "I have not a shilling in the world." "Think of the wickedness of going into debt then, and the aggravated manner in which it has been done." Will that remove his responsibility? No, still he is responsible; and he cannot, by any act of his own, remove his responsibility. If I went forward as the surety of any man, and said, "I will pay all your debts for you," this would not put an end to his responsibility. He would still be bound to his creditors. His responsibility would still hang over his head. But if his creditors allow me to put myself in his place, and agree to let him off on condition that I become answerable for his debts; and if I, in fulfilment of this engagement, do, in point of fact, pay every farthing he owes them, then, but not till then, there is an end of his responsibility; the responsibility is shifted from his shoulders to mine, and he has no longer anything to answer for-I have answered for all. Now this is precisely the case with our beloved Lord and His Church. We are all by nature conceived in sin and owe an infinite debt of obedience and suffering to the law and justice of God. We have no means of paying that debt; but our insolvency does not remove our responsibility. The eternal prison of hell must be our home, if there be no other responsibility than ours. Forth comes the glorious elder Brother, and allows everything to be laid upon Him, makes everything chargeable to Him; undertakes in covenant bond before sin existed to cancel the debt of His Church, to "magnify the law and make it honourable," to satisfy justice with infinite payment, to vanquish the powers of darkness, and to work out and bring in perfect redemption and salvation; and that bond being held by Jehovah, and Christ's responsibility being accepted, He must do this -it must be done.

Oh think for one moment of the glorious majesty of God's method of saving sinners; the glorious majesty of God's plan of bringing millions of poor, ruined vessels home to glory, without tarnishing the honour of His own name, without dishonouring one of the attributes of Deity by just accepting His dear Son's covenant bond under solemn responsibility, to do all, to pay all, to conquer all, to secure all, to obtain all, and to protect all that pertains to the entire salvation of His Church. Who would not love Him?