TORY. This, this is the key to all the preceding • remarks. Whence the continual woe of the holiest person that ever trod this earth? Whence the extremity of his anguish? Whence the toluntary susception of the death of the cross? To atone for us. His soul was made an offering for sin. All we like sheep had gone astray, and the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He, who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He died, the just for the unjust. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. Christ was our surety, he stood in our place, he endured the punishment we had deserved, he satisfied the law of a holy God by fulfilling its demands and suffering its penalty, he exhibited to men and angels the awful consequences of sin, and vindicated and illustrated the honour of God's moral government. He was made a curse for us. Now God can exercise mercy and truth in entire harmony; can be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. The Saviour has thus finished transgression, made an end of sin, made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness.

I add only further, that the sufferings of our Lord were COMPLETELY EFFECTUAL for the end. for which he sustained them. By ONE offering he perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Christ was ONCE offered to bear the sins of many. He entered in ONCE into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. We want no other atonement. We want no relics of saints, no merits of the church, no sacrifice of the mass, no intercession of the Virgin Mary, no pilgrimages nor macerations, no indulgences nor vows. We believe that our Lord has "made by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world." He expired not till he had said, It is finished. O mysterious words! O accents of consolation and bliss! The wants of man are supplied, the work of God is accomplished; the redemption is finished; God is reconciled, pardon obtained, life purchased, the Church saved.

It remains only that we fix our eyes on this scene, that we meditate on the suffering Saviour, and repose our faith in him for pardon and eternal life.

This leads me to consider,

II. THE SATISFACTION WHICH OUR SAVIOUR FEELS IN VIEWING THE EFFECTS OF HIS SUFFERINGS.

The language of the text is remarkable:

* Communion Service.

He, the Messiah, shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. An abundant reward shall be conferred on him. He shall see with infinite delight the effect and fruit of his sufferings and death. He is represented as

eagerly looking for the promised benefits of his passion; and he shall not be disappointed. A glorious inheritance from among sinners shall be given him. Multitudes shall be justified and saved by his grace, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. These converts shall be, so to speak, the very travail of his soul. So immediately shall their pardon flow from his death, that he shall see in it the direct effect of his sacrifice, the labour of his sufferings, his very passion itself. Let us then consider the SIGHT and the SATISFACTION referred to in this part of my text.

With regard to the first, our Lord HAS SEEN of the travail of his soul.

From the beginning he BEHELD IN CONTEMPLATION all the fruits of his sufferings; this was the joy which was set before him. He viewed from far the effects of his incarnation. He saw God glorified, the law magnified, sin condemned, sinners rescued, hell confounded-A thousand years are with the Lord as one day.

During THE VARIOUS DISPENSATIONS PRECEDING HIS ACTUAL COMING IN THE FLESH, he saw the effects of the sacrifice which he had en

gaged to make. From the fall of Adam to the very hour when our Lord endured the agony of the cross, every faithful servant of God was saved by the virtue of the destined redemption. Christ was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Abel was saved by faith in his future atonement. Enoch and Noah were rescued by the same redemption. Abraham rejoiced to see the Saviour's day. The typical economy of Moses was the shadow and pattern of heavenly things. David triumphed in his future seed. Isaiah saw his glory. All the patriarchs and prophets, and saints of God, from the primeval promise to the crucifixion, were first-fruits of our Lord's death; the anticipation of the future glorious trophies of the Captain of our salvation.

But it was ON THE CROSS ITSELF that the Lord Christ saw with one unerring view the full and splendid results of his undertaking. The text may perhaps be more expressly intended to convey this idea. He shall see of the travail of his soul; he shall, when in the midst of that agony which is to purchase a lost world, see in prospect the glorious victories of his grace, the triumphs of his Gospel, the salvation of sinners. Yes, in the depth of his grief and woe, amidst the ignominy of his death, the pressure of the divine wrath on his soul, the exultation of the priests, and the efforts of the powers of

darkness, he beheld the train of humble converts whom his sufferings should deliver and save; and animated by the view, he fainted not nor was discouraged during the dreadful conflict.

After his ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN, however, the prospect of the salvation of men began to be realized in a more ample manner. Then the Spirit was poured out, thousands were converted, the Gospel was preached throughout the world, churches were established, and multitudes of every nation were added to the Lord.

Throughout the SUCCEEDING AGES OF THE CHURCH the Saviour has still continued to behold the fruits of his travail. Wherever the Gospel has been carried or revived, wherever sinners have received its message, wherever pardon has been granted or holiness produced, wherever even one penitent believer has reached the glories of heaven, the eternal Lord of the church has marked the event. Nothing has escaped the diligent eye of the compassionate Redeemer, as nothing has been effected but by his power.

But not only has our Lord already seen of the travail of his soul, but HE STILL DOES SEE of it. His arm is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. In the present day the same doctrine of his atoning sacrifice, applied to the heart by the same Spirit, is attended with the same effects. The