Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin"-(1 John i. 7). "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world"--(John i. 29). The fires of sacrifice may now be extinguished, the blood of the appointed typical victims may no longer be shed, the clouds of incense no longer ascend; the true Sacrifice has been offered; the ransom has been paid, eternal redemption is obtained." He laid down His life for His sheep'--(John x. 11). "The Son of man, who came to give His life a ransom for many”—(Matt. xx. 28)—" hath suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God"—(1 Peter iii. 18). The death of Christ, which removes sin and ransoms sinners from their punishment (see Job xxxiii. 24)—which obtains remission and forgiveness, is a perfect reconciliation. The Old Testament economy developed the principle of sacrificial atonement, and inculcated the fact, that "without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin”—(Heb. ix. 22). It taught, by the constant recurrence of sacrifice, that" it was not possible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sin"(Heb. x. 4)—and by the guiding light of prophecy disclosed to our view the appointed Victim, "whose blood is shed for many for the remission of sins"(Matt. xxvi. 28). And "by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified"—(Heb. x 14). His death was efficacious. He was delivered, from eternity, for our offences, as the appointed Mediator, according to the everlasting purpose of the Father; in time He was the subject of promise, prediction and type, and at the appointed period was put to death in our place and stead, in a body which He assumed and which was prepared for that purpose-(compare Heb. ii. 9, 14, with Heb. x. 5).

The death of Christ, we should remember, was necessary to fulfil the promises, verify the types, accomplish the predictions and establish the eternal purpose of God in showing mercy to sinners, whom He hath loved, not at the expence of justice or of law, but by meeting the demands of justice and yielding obedience to His commands in the nature that had sinned. It was an illustrious expedient, in which the love of God to poor sinners, His regard to justice, and hatred of sin are fully developed. The death of the appointed Mediator, so far from procuring the love of God, is the effect of His everlasting and unchanging love; "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins"-(1 John iv. 20). God commendeth His love toward us in that "while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”—(Rom. v. 6.) So far from the death of Christ being designed to reconcile God unto us, "God hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ"-(2 Cor. v. 18.)

IV. That man in his lapsed state is an object of redeeming love, is seen in the blessed results of the mediation of Christ.

1. There is a way of access to God. Prior to the fall, it is possible Adam had direct access to his Creator; but after the fall, there was no way of access, until a way was opened through our Lord Jesus Christ, who says "I am the way" (John xiv. 6), and graciously invites us to come and find rest to our souls; promising to reject none that come. Yes, there is a way of approach to God, a way in which sinners may "draw near and obtain mercy, and grace to help in time of need." And over the entrance is inscribed by the pen of eternal love" Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."

2. There is salvation for every penitent believer.

"Jesus is exalted a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins"-(Acts v. 31). "Through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by Him all that believe are justified from all things-(Acts xiii. 38, 39). Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth (poE0To, foreordained,) to be a propitiation through faith in His blood"-(Romans iii. 24, 25).

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3. There is the peculiar privilege of communion with God for believers. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have access unto the Father by the One Spirit." And truly under the influence of the Holy Spirit, our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. Heaven begins on earth in the enjoyment of Divine love, access to our heavenly Father, and the cheering rays of His reconciled countenance. 4. There is great encouragement to seek salvation.

This encouragement is drawn from His promises. He says, "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." From the perfection of the Mediator's work. He hath obeyed the law, and so wrought out and brought in an everlasting righteousness, which is unto all and upon all that believe. "He hath made atonement for sin, and died to purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." And "He is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him.

Lastly. The salvation of His church is completed; her sins are washed away in the crimson streams that flowed from her dying Lord. She is ransomed by the life He gave for her redemption from the curse of the law, justified in His righteousness freely from all things, and brought into a state of peace with God through His gracious intervention, and may rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Truly, He hath loved His church and should be loved in return. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies living sacrifices unto God, which is your reasonable service”—(Romans xii).

From the gracious appointment of a suitable Mediator, the dignity of the Mediator, the antiquity of His appointment, the reconciliation He has effected, and blessed results of His Mediation, it is clear that man in his lapsed state is an object of redeeming love, and may through faith in the gracious Redeemer arrive finally in eternal glory. The Lord grant this faith to every reader, for the Redeemer's sake.

Matlock, Bath.

TWO DEATH BEDS.

F. PERKINS.

As the result of his own observation, he who addresses you may state, that he has witnessed the closing days of many who had imbibed infidel opinions, but never saw more than one who persisted in those opinions to the last. Some awoke to horror and despair; and some, there was reason to hope, sought and received mercy from that long-suffering Saviour whom they had denied. One, indeed, there was, who, according to the horrid language of his mates, did die game, -an expression in itself betraying the desperate struggle there must be made to keep the truth from bursting forth. The man to whom we allude was a superior mechanic, possessed of a vigorous mind, and deeply versed in the works of sceptics. Though he yielded several points, and discovered much of wavering in his views, yet he never avowedly abandoned his unbelief. Little cause, however, had infidelity to triumph in his end; pitiful were the solace and the succour which she gave him. His sick-bed was a scene of unmitigated suffering; his temper became so embittered, that, on one occasion, when his little child, in its mother's arms, stretched out its hand towards some lozenges that lay on his pillow, he snarled forth in a tone I shall never forget, "You fiend!" He wailed and writhed under his bodily pains, which were not greater than are incident to some kinds of consumption, with the most abject impatience; his countenance was the mirror of passion and misery, and his very look had in it something terrific. In vain did he strive to stifle the misgivings of his mind, for his apprehensions would betray themselves; he could not endure to be left in the dark he would, sometimes, when none besides his family was present, shriek out frightfully and declare there were devils in the room! True, his intellect might be impaired, though I never discovered it; but,even admitting that he raved, whence arose the complexion of his ravings And to complete the horrors of that chamber, even his adult daughters, instead of hanging yearningly over his bed, would not one of them venture alone into his apartment, such a dread had they of what was passing there.

Oh! contrast with the dark scenes we have glanced at the death-beds of some of the servants of God. A thousand such present themselves to view. May it be allowed me to select from amongst them the one most endeared to myself? May I take you, for a moment, to the deathbed of my venerated father? During half a century he had proved his principles in his life, and when dying he sealed them in his death. Though his bodily anguish must have been intense, he sustained it without one expression of disquietude. His children, instead of shrinking from his presence, hung around him with a thrilling love, chastened by a holy admiration of the grace which God imparted to him. There was no enthusiasm, no excitement. There was the serenity of the summer sunset, combined with all its lustre. Within a few minutes of his death, he waved his hand, and exclaimed, "More than conqueror ! More than conqueror!" Then, after a pause, stretching forth both his arms, his countenance beaming with more than earthly brightness, he added, "A world of glory breaks upon my view: I see angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim-I see all our dear departed relatives and friends that died in the Lord-I see God the Father, sitting on the throne-I see God the Son, standing at his right hand-I see the spirits of just men made perfect." It seemed as if he had somewhat of the vision vouchsafed to the first martyr. The impression, indeed, was mental, but the effect was no less real. Almost immediately after, he expired without a struggle.-From a Lecture on Infidelity, by the Rev. H. Stowell. Religious Tract Society.

ON THE STATE OF THE WORLD AT THE COMMENCEMENT
OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA.

PART II.

ON THE JEWISH NATION.

FROM the family of Noah many nations and tribes have descended, and these admit of various distinctions, as the inhabitants of different localities, the recipients of different creeds, and the adherents of different leaders in religion; but the great divisions into which men were separated at the period of our Saviour's advent were those of Jew and Gentile. These were the result of Divine interposition. The Almighty was pleased to set apart the Israelites for the important purposes of preserving in the earth the knowledge of Himself, of testifying against the idolatry and polytheism of the rest of mankind, of introducing the Messiah, and preparing the way for the extension of the Gospel. This He accomplished by honouring them with a revelation of His character, and the origin and design of the present mundane system; by favouring them with the laws and institutions of Moses, the missions and writings of a long train of prophets, and the care of a watchful providence. To the Gentiles, who neither regarded nor observed the ceremonial ritual prescribed by Moses under the direction of Jehovah, we have attended. To the state of the Jewish nation, at the interesting period under consideration, we now attend.

The descendants of Abraham, called Jews or Hebrews were not then in that scattered state in which they are now, and in which they have existed for ages-" a nation scattered and peeled," "without a king and a prince;" neither were they in that splendour and stability or esteem, which distinguished them in the days of David. But they were resident in their own land, and governed, although under a tributary king or imposed rulers, by rulers of their own and by their own laws, at the commencement of the period under review. Palestine, or the land of promise, the land of their fathers the site of their glory-the spot on which the affections of the Jew now fasten, and for which he cherishes the hope of possession in a future period-commonly called Canaan, after the son of Ham, whose descendants once possessed this land as well as Mizraim or Egypt-is situated on the Western part of Asia, and in the neighbourhood of Egypt and Arabia. It is bounded on the East by Arabia Deserta, on the West by the Mediterranean or Great Sea, on the North by Syria, and on the South by Arabia and Egypt. A small tract of land

about 200 miles long and 100 broad, varying greatly in its breadth in different places, which lies far within the temperate zone, and is blest with a good air and fruitful soil. This country, however, was not the only place where the Jews existed in numbers. Through their previous captivities and frequent emigrations, they were found in various lands, and "wherever they dwelt they lived in a measure separate from the rest of the community, but they were extremely harmonious among themselves; indeed, those who lived in countries separate and distant still maintained a connection with each other by means of the temple at Jerusalem, for every individual was in the habit of sending to it yearly a half shekel in money -those who were able visited it in person." Wherever they emigrated, they carried the writings of Moses and the prophets; and wherever they lived they were known by their religious peculiarities. So far from hiding their attachment to the God of heaven and earth, they gloried in Him as their God and the God of their fathers, and erected prosecuhas and synagogues in which to worship Him in every place." The Jews of Egypt, who inhabited Leontopolis in the district of Heliopolis from the year 143 before Christ to Anno Domino 73, had a temple of their own, though they still kept up a connection with the Jews at Jerusalem."+

The nation so united by religious ties or bonds, was united still more closely in the expectation of a great deliverer, who they fondly hoped would not only liberate

them from the galling yoke of the Roman, but from that state of political weakness which had rendered them tributary to the Persians and Syrians. They expected He would ascend the throne then filled by the Idumean Herod, who held his kingdom in subjection to Cæsar, and having expelled him from the country, should not only defend them against, but vanquish all their foes; nay, they looked forward to the establishment of a lasting and extensive empire through a succession of decisive victories. They lost sight of the spiritual character of their long promised Messiah, of the superior nature of His triumphs, and of the unearthly character of His empire. And hence, notwithstanding the seventy weeks of years from the time of the mandate going forth to rebuild the temple were nearly expired-notwithstanding the sceptre was departing from Judah and the lawgiver from between his feet-notwithstanding a general expectation of Messiah was created among the Gentiles as well as themselves-notwithstanding He was born in the fulness of time in Bethlehem, and of the line of David, in the period foretold by prophet after prophet-and notwithstanding He, as predicted, healed the sick, fed the multitude, gave limbs to the maimed, sight to the blind, and life to the dead-we find them despising and rejecting Him to their eternal injury, and, through their rebellions and factions, to the destruction of their civil polity.

The political sects or factions to which this state of things gave birth, do not require much attention; and we must not forget "that among the Jews religious and civil opinions were almost necessarily blended. The Galileans are mentioned in Scripture in strong terms of censure, as a turbulent and seditious sect; and Josephus, who does not name the Herodians, not only speaks of the Galileans as a very considerable sect, but ascribes to them a great part of the calamities of his country. Their leader was Judas of Galilee, who was followed at first by a small part of the Pharisees, but by degrees the Galileans swallowed up all the other sects, and it is highly probable that the zealots were of this sect."*

The Herodians also were a political rather than a religious sect. Tertullian, and some other ancient authors, thought that the Herodians were so called because they believed Herod to be the Messiah; but Jerome treats this opinion with contempt, and there seems to be no foundation for it in Scripture, unless we suppose that it is alluded to in our Lord's caution to His disciples against the leaven of Herod.' It seems more probable that the Herodians were only a set of men strongly attached to the family of Herod, and of particularly profligate principles.t These men, says Dr. Doddridge, from their high regard to Herod would naturally be zealous for the authority of the Romans, by whose authority Herod was made and continued king;" and so determinately opposed to the Pharisees, whose principles were widely different. "The Herodians," says Dr. A. Clarke, “did not exist before the time of Herod the Great, who died only three years after the incarnation of our Lord; they existed at least thirty years after, and were alluded to by our Lord, who cautioned His followers against them. As Herod subjected himself and his people to the dominion of the Romans, in opposition to Deut. xvii. 15, built temples, set up images, and joined in heathenish worship, though he professed the Jewish religion, we may learn that the Herodians were such as held it lawful to transfer the Divine government to a heathen ruler, and to conform occasionally to heathenish rites in their religious worship; in short, they trimmed and were religious just as far as it tended to secure their secular interests." This view is supported by Dean Prideaux, from whence it was extracted by Dr. Clarke. And they seem to have borne a close resemblance to the Samaritans in their original character, according to Prideaux, who says, "The Samaritans were no more at first than a mongrel sort of heathen, who worshipped the God of Israel only in an idolatrous manner and in conjunction with their other deities," till reformed by Manasseh.

We close our review of the political state of the Jews at this interesting season by observing, that the publicans, although they were not of any sect or party civil or religious, but merely gatherers of taxes, and collectors of customs for the

• Bp. Tomline's Elements of Christian Theology. + Bp. Tomline.

Dr. A. Clarke on Matt. 16. 1.

Romans, were lightly esteemed, and their employment considered base and infamous by the Jews, who bore with impatience the taxes imposed by their conquerors.

The religious state of this nation now requires our attention, although little can be added that a serious reader of the New Testament does not know. Prior to the Babylonish captivity the Jews were prone to idolatry, but afterwards they were determinately opposed to it with the exception of the time-serving Herodians, who are supposed to have been of the Sadducees. "Previously to that captivity there are no vestiges of the existence of any sect among the Jews. Devoted to the study of their law, and to the ceremonies of their religion, they neglected those curious studies which were esteemed by many among other nations. After the captivity we do not meet with any traces of the sects until the time of the Maccabean princes;" but at the commencement of the Gospel dispensation, the visitor or traveller could not pass through the towns of Palestine or streets of Jerusalem, without encountering the proud sanctimonious Pharisees. A superstitious sect, who cherished too high an opinion of themselves, and held the rest of mankind in low esteem; distinguished by their broad phylacteries or scrolls of parchment, on which passages of Scripture were inscribed, which they wore as frontlets partly over the forehead and partly between the eyes, as well as by the extra width of the fringes and borders of their garments. Here they would be seen praying ostentatiously in the corners of the streets, or entering the public synagogue for individual devotion; here distributing alms, as the sound of a trumpet attracted the attention of the needy or the observation of the multitude; and there with sad and rueful countenances afflicting themselves by weekly fastings.

Beneath this self-denying charitable and devotional exterior he would discover a state of mind both hypocritical, corrupt, and iniquitous. The extortions and general conduct of the sect would disclose their hollowness, seeing they devoured widows' houses and for a pretence made long prayers-seeing they washed the outside of the cup and platter, but left the inner part untouched-that they washed their hands but not their hearts, but, on the contrary, acknowledged thoughts and desires were not sinful-and seeing they cultivated no other than ceremonial purity, made the whole of religion to consist of compliance with the traditionary requirements of the oral law and the outward forms of religion, and that they by their traditions rendered the law of God Himself null and void. 'Ye hypocrites,' he would exclaim, 'you deceitfully assume the garb of extraordinary piety to conceal your wickedness, and aid you in the accomplishment of your evil purposes. Truly ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful without, but are within full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." And notwithstanding their professed reception of the laws of God as given by Moses, of the doctrine of a presiding Providence, and belief in the existence of angels and spirits, as well as of a coming resurrection-notwithstanding their outward sanctimony, their distribution of alms, their frequent fasts and long prayers offered in the sight of men-he would come to the conclusion that their religion was only subservient to the elevation of their character in the sight of a corrupted and short-sighted public in order to further their base designs. On discovering that the bulk of the people adhered to the doctrine of the Pharisees, and the Scribes were chiefly of that body, he would extend his survey to the Sadducees; and on ascertaining their notions to be opposed to the general tenour of truth, that they rejected the doctrine of a resurrection, the existence of any other spirit save the Almighty, denied the doctrine of Divine Providence, the reality of Divine influence, discharged religious duties in order to enjoy earthly felicity, and limited the period of their existence to the duration of their mortal life, he, notwithstanding he might meet "with many of devotional feeling and intellectual imbecility, who, disgusted with their priests and bewildered by their traditions, sought relief in the indulgence of an eremetic taste, and a life of contemplation," who constituted the philosophical sect of the Essenes-notwithstanding there might be a few devout and sincere servants of God-he, not

Hartwell Horne's Critical Introduction to the Scriptures. + Library of Ecclesiastical Knowledge.

VOL. XII.

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