itself in his emptying and abasing himself, in his laboring, and suffering, and dying, for the salvation of men. Are they exhorted to make pecuniary sacrifices for the relief of their poor brethren? the motive is, "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus, in that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." Are husbands urged to love their wives? the motive is, "Christ also loved the church," his spouse, " and gave himself for her." And not to multiply examples, are Christians in the passage which I have read as the subject of discourse, called on cheerfully and patiently to endure suffering in the cause of Christ? the motive is, "Christ also once suffered for us, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, and quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison; which aforetime were disobedient: and having risen from the dead, is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels, and authorities, and powers, being made subject to him."

In the immediate context, as you are aware, the apostle has been instructing those to whom he was writing how to behave themselves, when exposed to persecution on account of the religion of Christ, so as to reflect honor on Him, on it, and on themselves; and to reconcile them to such sufferings, and induce them to conduct themselves properly under them, he suggests the thought, "that divinely-appointed suffering in a good cause, rightly sustained, is not to be considered as an evil. "If ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye." "It is better, since such is the will of God, that ye doing well suffer:" better not only that ye should suffer doing well," rather than doing evil;" but better in these circumstances that ye should suffer than ye should not suffer.

وو

It is in illustration and proof of this principle, I apprehend, that the apostle introduces the example of our Lord, the Prince of sufferers. His sufferings were divinely-appointed sufferings; sufferings in the best of all causes: sufferings sustained in the best possible manner; and sufferings terminating in such a way, as very strikingly to show, that divinely-appointed suffering in a good cause, rightly sustained, is rather to be chosen and embraced as a good, than dreaded and shunned as an evil. Such seems to me the general import of the interesting paragraph I have read, excluding from consideration, at present, the 20th and 21st verses, which, being plainly parenthetical, may be left out without at all interrupting the train of thought, and which, being involved in considerable difficulties, may, with greater advantage, be afterwards made a subject of separate examination.

In suffering "for righteousness' sake," you may well account yourselves happy. It is better, since such is the will of God, that you doing well should suffer; for even1 (that is the force of the particle rendered also) the Lord Christ, all excellent and glorious as he is, even HE, ONCE suffered, though now and henceforth he suffers no more-is completely and forever exempt from suffering of every kind, in every degree, the ends of his sufferings being completely gained. He suffered, even to the death, "for sins;" not his own, for he had none, but for those of others, of course, then, by the will of God, the express

1 Καὶ.

appointment of the supreme Judge, "in the stead of sinners ;" and he suffered doing well, being and appearing to be "the just One," though "in the room of the unjust ;" and these sufferings were for a most holy and benignant object, that he might restore sinful and miserable men to holiness and happiness by bringing them to God. These sufferings, though they ended in a most violent death (for he was put to death, or became dead" in the flesh," or bodily), led to a vivification, a quickening in the Spirit, or spiritually, which manifested itself in his going and preaching to the spirits in prison, whatever that may mean, and to a bodily resurrection too, which was followed by ascension to heaven, where, in the nature in which he had endured so much suf fering, He sits" at the right hand of God; angels, and authorities, and powers, being made subject to him." Is there not abundant reason here why Christians, the followers of that illustrious sufferer, the Captain of salvation, thus made perfect through suffering, when exposed to suffering for his sake, should count it all joy to be subjected to manifold trials while he is conducting them to glory; should reckon themselves happy because they thus endure; and should consider it better, since such is the will of God, that they doing well should suffer?

For the further illustration of this most interesting and instructive passage of Scripture, I shall call your attention, First, to the illustrious sufferer, "Christ, the just One;" Secondly, to his sufferings he suffered, suffered even to death; Thirdly, to the nature of his sufferingsthey were penal, vicarious, expiatory, for sins, in the room of the unjust; Fourthly, to the design of his sufferings-to bring men to God; and Fifthly, to the consequences of his sufferings-"Being quickened in the Spirit, he went and preached to the spirits in prison; and having risen from the dead he went into heaven, where he is on the right hand of God; angels, and authorities, and powers, being made subject to him." After having illustrated under these heads, the important principles contained in this passage, I shall endeavor to show how they are fitted to serve the purpose for which they are brought forward by the apostle: to reconcile Christians to suffering; to give them both support and direction under their sufferings.

I-THE SUFFERER.

Let us then, first, inquire into the import of the two descriptive appellations here given to the illustrious Sufferer. He is Christ, the just One.

§ 1.-Christ.

First, He is Christ. This is not, strictly speaking, the proper name of Him who bears it. It is one of his official designations; and in this way stands in the same class as Mediator, Redeemer, Saviour. Jesus was his proper name; and Jesus Christ, or rather Jesus the Christ, is not like Simon Peter, or John Mark, a double name, but like John the Baptist, or Herod the king, a proper name, and a descriptive

appellation conjoined. Christ is a Greek word,1 corresponding in meaning to the Hebrew word Messiah, and the English word anointed.

3

The Christ, then, is just the Anointed One. Anointing seems, from a very early period, to have been the emblem of consecration; the setting apart of a person or thing to a particular and sacred purpose:2 and it appears that, among the Jews, consecration to the three sacred offices, the prophetical, priestly, and kingly, was indicated by anointing. In the Old Testament Scriptures, the great Deliverer, who had been promised almost immediately after man by his sin had brought himself into circumstances which made a deliverer necessary, is spoken of as God's Anointed One, with a reference to all the three sacred offices. David speaks of him as Jehovah's Anointed King, Isaiah as his Anointed Prophet, and Daniel as his Anointed Priest. During the period which elapsed from the close of the prophetic canon till the birth of Jesus, no appellation for the promised Deliverer seems to have been so commonly employed as this, The Messiah; and this is still the name which the Jews ordinarily use when they speak of Him whom they hope for, as "the glory of God's people, Israel."

4

Our Lord is termed The Christ, or Anointed One, as standing apart, by himself, far elevated above all other anointed persons; just as he is, amid the countless millions of the sons of men, termed The Son of Man.

The appellation Christ, naturally called up to the mind of a believing Jew, and such were all the writers of the New Testament, as well as most of its original readers, much important and interesting truth respecting Him who bore it. The Christ, as they thought of him, was a person in whom all the varied predictions respecting the great promised Deliverer had found, or were to find, their accomplishment: the seed of the woman who was to bruise the head of the serpent; the seed of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth were to be blessed; the great Prophet like unto Moses, whom all men were required to hear and obey; the Priest after the order of Melchizedeck; the Priest on the throne; the Root out of the stem of Jesse; the Branch of Jehovah; the Angel of the covenant; the Lord of the temple; the wonderful Counsellor; the mighty God; the Father of the future age; the Prince of peace; Immanuel, God with us; Jehovah-Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness, our Justification, our Justifier.1 While the name Christ naturally calls up all the truth respecting Him who bears the name, it brings him especially before the mind as Prophet, Priest, and King; the anointed Prophet, Priest, and King; the Prophet, the great revealer of truth respecting the Divine character and will; the Priest, the only expiator of human guilt, and reconciler of man to God; the King, the supreme and sole legitimate ruler over the minds and hearts of mankind. And he not only fills these offices and performs these functions, but he has been anointed to do so: that is, in figurative language, he has been divinely appointed, divinely qualified, di2 Gen. xxviii. 18; xxxi. 13; xxxv. 14. Lev. iv. 3.

1 Χριστός.

$ 1 Sam. xxiv. 6. 2 Sam. xxiii. 1. Lam. iv. 20.

✦ Psal. ii. 3; xx. 6; xlv. 7. Isa. lxi. 1. Dan. ix. 24–26.

5

Gen. iii. 15; xxii. 18. Deut. xviii. 15. Psal. cx. 4. Zech. vi. 13. Isa. ix. 6; xi.

1 10 vii. 14; iv. 2. Jer. xxiii. 6. Mal. iii. 1.

99 66

vinely commissioned, and divinely accredited; divinely appointed, set up from everlasting," God's "elect" one; divinely qualified, the Spirit of the Lord was given him, not by measure; divinely commissioned, “called of God as was Aaron, the Father sent him to be the Saviour of the world;" and divinely accredited, the Father who sent him bears witness of him, "both with signs, and wonders, and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will." So full of meaning is the appellation CHRIST, a word which I am afraid we often use without having any very definite idea in our minds; a word in which, however, is folded up the whole saving truth, so that he who, in the true, full import of the words, "believes that Jesus is the Christ," believes the saving truth, and has the privilege conferred on him of being a son of God."

1

§2.-The just One.

The second appellation given to the glorious Sufferer spoken of in the text is, the just, or the righteous, One. "The just One," as well as the anointed One, is an appellation given to the great promised Deliverer in the writings of the Old Testament prophets. In the last prophetic words of David, he speaks of his Son and Lord under this name. "The just One ruleth among men;" for so do the best Scripture critics render the words translated in our version, "He that ruleth among men must be just." It is of him of whom it was predicted that a bone of him should not be broken, that it is said by the same inspired writer, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" or just One. The prophet Isaiah speaks of Him as Jehovah's "righteous servant;" and the prophet Zechariah, congratulating the church on his appearance, exclaims, "Behold, thy King cometh. He is just, having salvation." 3

In obvious allusion to such passages, we find the appellation not unfrequently given by the New Testament writers to our Lord Jesus. "Your fathers," says Stephen, "have slain them who spake before of the coming of the just One." "Ye denied," says the Apostle Peter to his countrymen, "the Holy One and the just." The God of our fathers," said Ananias to Saul of Tarsus, "hath chosen thee to see that just One, and to hear the words of his mouth." "Ye have condemned and killed the just One," says the Apostle James to his unbelieving countrymen. "We have an advocate with the Father," says the Apostle John, "Jesus Christ the righteous.'

The appellation is most accurately descriptive, both personally and officially, of Him who wears it. Personally our Lord is absolutely free from sin, and in heart and life completely conformed to the requisitions of the holy, just, and good law of God. The man Christ Jesus came into the world free from every taint or tendency to evil; and if the questions be asked, in reference to him, "What is man, that he should be clean? or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Who can bring a clean thing out of an un1 Prov. viii. 23. Isa. xlii. 1. Heb. v. 4. Isa. xi. 2-4; xlix. 6. Acts ii. 22. John v. 37 2 1 John v. 1.

3 2 Sam. xxiii. 3. Psal. xxxiv. 19, comp. with 20. Isa. liii. 11. • Acts vii. 32; iii. 14; xxii. 14. James v. 6. 1 John ii. 1.

Zech. ix. 9.

clean?" the evangelist will answer them: "The Holy Ghost came upon his virgin mother, and the power of the Highest overshadowed her; and that which was born of her was a Holy thing, and was called," "and was indeed," "the Son of God." 1 This original purity was never in the slightest degree stained. Though exposed to the assaults of the great author of evil, that adversary did not prevail against, that son of mischief did not overcome, him. Though in a world full of temptation and sin, he remained untainted; though tried both by its smiles and its frowns, its terrors and its allurements, he never, in the slightest degree, imbibed its spirit, or imitated its manners. He kept himself "unspotted from the world," being "in it, not of it;" and he died, as he lived, a stranger to guilt and depravity. No action, no word, ever escaped from him, no thought, no desire, ever arose in his bosom, inconsistent with the requisitions or with the spirit of the Divine law. He left this world as he entered it, "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." 2

But the character of our Lord was not merely free from faults, it was distinguished by every possible moral excellence. Every holy principle in absolute perfection reigned in his mind; and his conduct was a uniform tenor of perfect obedience to that law which was in his heart. He fulfilled the law in both of its great requisitions. "He loved the Lord his God with all his heart, and soul, and strength, and mind; and he loved his neighbor as himself." He "did justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly with his God." He fully did all that God required, and cheerfully suffered all that God appointed. In principle, in extent, in continuance, his obedience completely answered the demands of the holy law, which is spiritual and exceeding broad. His meat was to do the will of him who sent him, and to finish his work."3 All excellences were found in him, and found in their due proportion; and they wrought together in uninterrupted harmony. He was all fair; there was no spot in him."

وو

"The just One" is an appellation equally applicable to him in his official administration as in his personal character; no less applicable to him as the Christ, than as the man Jesus. He is faithful to him who appointed him." He was appointed to glorify God in the salvation of an innumerable multitude of mankind; and, in the accomplishment of this great work, "righteousness has been the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." He has shown in every part of his work that "he loves righteousness and hates iniquity. As a Prophet, he has faithfully delivered the message he has received from his Father; he has declared him whom no man has seen at any time;" he has "manifested his name." His " His "mouth spoke truth; wickedness was an abomination to his lips." "All the words of his mouth were in righteousness; there was nothing froward or perverse in them." As a Priest, he has "fulfilled all righteousness. He has fully satisfied all the demands of the Divine law on those in whose room he stood. When exaction was made, he answered it. There was not one requisition of the law, but he readily and completely met it. He obeyed the whole precept; he bare the entire penalty of the violated law. He "finished transgression, made 1 Job xv. 14; xiv. 4. Luke i. 35.

2 Heb. vii. 26.

3 John iv. 34.