CHAPTER SECON D.

The design of the death of Christ,

GOD hath some wise end in view in every thing which he suffers to take place, it was doubtless to answer some grand and glorious purpose that he suffered his Son Jesus to fall into the hands of wicked men, and to be crucified by them: what this purpose was is the object of our present enquiry.

It was not to effect any change in God, neither in his nature, character, any of his perfections, nor in his designs, that Christ submitted to death; for God is, under every view, an unchangeable being, It was not to excite him to love his creatures, for he had always loved them; nor to render him merciful, for he had always been merciful: nor to render it fit and proper for him to show mercy, and exercise forgiveness, for he had shown mercy and exercised forgiveness long before. It was no doubt to produce an important effect somewhere; but the effect to be produced must be entirely among creatures, relate wholly to them, and be in and upon them only.

The design of the death of Christ may be briefly comprehended in this one point to confirm the truth of God; and all the effects produced by it result from that confirmation. Grace and truth came by Jesus

Christ, he is the faithful and true witness. In the good confession which he witnessed before Pontius Pilate he testified, To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth.. His death was the last act of his life, he died for the same purpose as he lived, it was the finishing of his testimony; he was a martyr, and the king of martyrs; by his death he bore the strongest testimony, and gave the highest confirmation, to the truth of God: on due consideration this will appear of the greatest importance to mankind. :

It is objected by our opponents that if Christ merely died to confirm the truth, he hath done no more for us than the martyrs who sealed the truth with their blood. To this I reply that we associate other important objects with his death which cannot be associated, in the same sense with the death of the martyrs. Had not he revealed and confirmed the truth of the gospel there could have been no martyrs in its cause; consequently, what the martyrs sealed with their blood, and the act of their doing it, had a dependance on his first revealing and confirming it. Besides, though the martyrs might seal the truth with their blood, they have none of them risen from the dead as Jesus did, at once to complete the ratification, and illustrate the nature of what they died to defend: and the death of Christ is not to be separated from his resurrection, when considered as the highest confirmation of the truth.

His death was a confirmation of the truth of God under various views. As it had been foretold by the

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Prophets, it was a confirmation of the general truth of the prophecies in the Old Testament, and of the certainty of their fulfilment. It ratified the ancient promises; for he was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers. (Rom. xv. 8.) It seems then that to establish the truth of God, and confirm his promises, was the great end of his ministry, which he closed by his death. The promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen, i. e, affirmed, and confirmed. The truth of his character as the Messiah, of his divine mission, and of his doctrine, were confirmed by his death: in particular the doctrine of immortality, which he brought to light, was both ratified and illustrated by his dying and rising; for if he had not died he could not have risen from the dead, and this most important subject would have been without its strongest evidence, and plainest illustration. As it is the truth of God which enlightens, savés, purifies and makes us happy, and is the ground of our immortal hopes, it must be an end worthy of God to give it the highest confirmation by the death of his Son. This stamps the highest value and importance on the voluntary surrender which Christ made of his life for our benefit.

As he died to ratify the truth of God, he hereby confirmed the divine love, mercy and grace to men; he confirmed the promises made to the fathers, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. (Rom. xv. 9.) The Apostles never intimated that his death was intended to manifest the wrath of God,

show forth his displeasure against sin; but they plainly asserted that it was intended to manifest the love of God, and show his favor to men. God commend eth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Herein perceive we the love God because Christ laid down his life for us. He taught the universal love of God to men, and the greatness of it; he published his favor to the world; he declared his rich mercy to sinners indiscriminately; and he confirmed the truth of these things by his death: and the dispositions he manifested in his sufferings afforded a fine illustration of them. The death of Christ is intended for a testimony: (1 Tim. ii. 6.) and it testifies the truth and grace, the love and mercy of God to his creatures. As a seal is a testimony to the truth of what the writing contains to which it is affixed, and gives validity to it, even so his death ratifies the gospel of the grace of God, and establishes its validity. Hence the value and importance of his death, in removing all unworthy thoughts of God, as a wrathful, vindictive being, and in assuring sinners of the divine love and mercy to them, that they may receive the knowledge of forgiveness of sins, have hope in God, enjoy his salvation, and be drawn to obedience. This surely is an end worthy of the Father of mercies in commanding his Son to die.

The death of Christ exhibits the most perfect example of obedience to the divine will. The Father gave him commandment to lay down his life: and he became obedient to death, even the death of

the cross. It was the most difficult act of obedience, because, all circumstances considered, the most painful, that ever man was called to perform. The opportunity he had of avoiding it, had he declined from the path of duty, rendered his obedience, in not shrinking from the painful task, the more exemplary. The fitness and utility, of the person who was destined to the highest dignity and authority, being first called to perform the most difficult and painful obedience, must be manifest. It became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (Heb. ii. 10.)

The sufferings of Christ were necessary on his own account. This position may startle some persons, but it will be found capable of proof. Pain and suffering are comprehended in that plan of discipline by which the Almighty leads his creatures, as the pupils of experience, to a state of perfection. Sufferings do not always imply sin in the sufferer. Infants, who are not capable of being under any law, consequently cannot be the subjects of transgression, for where there is no law, there is no transgression,are the subjects of pain and suffering. All the inferior creatures. to whom it will not be said sin is imputed, suffer and die. The most virtuous men have frequently been the most afflicted, instance Job, and Jeremiah. Pain and suffering seem necessary, in varions instances, to the formation, of truly great and extraordinary characters. On this general view