SERMON XXXIV.

THES

JOHN xix. 30.

-It is finished.

HESE are the last words of Jesus-the words which he uttered when his hour was come, when, in the presence of a great assembly, he breathed out his soul in agony upon the cross. It was ordered by the providence of God, that, as Jesus by his death was the Saviour of the world, he should die publicly, when all Israel from Dan to Beersheba were assembled at Jerusalem.

There is something grand and awful in the assembled multitudes of men, especially when convened on any great oc-. casion, such as to pass sentence of life and death. In that silence of the mind, that awful pause of thought, the human genius is agitated strongly; it labours in expectation, and fills up the dreadful interval with emotions of terror and astonishment. When, therefore, at this period, all Judea was present to celebrate the paschal solemnity; when the great council of the nation, the chief priests, the scribes and elders, convened in Sanhedrim, added dignity to the multitude; when Pilate the governor of Judea, and Herod the tetrarch of Galilee, with their attending armies, displayed the grandeur of the Roman empire, and sustained the majesty of the masters of the world,-when all these were assembled at the time of the death and crucifixion of a Prophet of the Lord, how great would be the agitations of the multitude! What astonishing ideas would strike the mind, when they heard the expiring Prophet cry out, "It is finished !" When, in a moment, they saw that the face of nature was changed; when they felt the earthquake which shook the nations; when they were struck with the darkness which veiled the sun; when they were surrounded with the inhabitants of the eternal world who arose from their graves,-would not they then

Preached at the celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

think, indeed, that all was finished, that the last hour of nature was come, and that the world was departing with its Creator?

Never from the time that the idea of creation arose in the Divine Mind, did an hour revolve that laboured with such vast events. To this great point of view, as to the deciding hour in the annals of time, as to the crisis of the moral world, all the preceding ages looked forward, and all succeeding ages looked back. The grand question was now deciding, Whether happiness or misery should finally triumph in the universe of God. From this event, the powers of hell dated the rise or fall of their dominion. The fate of the creation was now weighing in the scales. All eternity rested on this hour.

Whilst we are now assembled to commemorate these great events, and to renew the memorials of thy death and passion, be present with us, most blessed Jesus! May we behold thy face, not as it was then covered with anguish and tears, but smiling upon us with heavenly complacency! Fill our hearts with love to thee, and lead us joyfully up unto thine holy altar.

"It is finished," said our Lord, when he expired on the cross. What was then finished?-The following events. God had early manifested to the fathers his pur pose of grace to redeem the world. He chose a peculiar people from whom the Redeemer was to descend; and appointed a dispensation of religion to prepare the world for his appearance. By the death of Jesus, this ancient dispensation was finished.

Jesus Christ foretold by all the prophets, had now appeared unto Israel. As the Prophet of the world, he published a new religion, which he adorned by his life, which he confirmed by his miracles, and which he had now sealed with his blood. By the death on the cross, his mission to the Jews, as the Author of a new religion, was finished.

From the beginning of the world, God had appointed sacrifices to make an atonement for sin. These could not by any virtue of their own propitiate the Deity, or purify the soul from pollution. A more perfect sacrifice, therefore, was necessary in order to atone the divine wrath. By the death of Jesus, this atonement was finished. Jesus Christ, thus constituted the Prophet of the world, and the Priest who was to make atonement for the sins of men,

was to be made perfect through suffering. By the appointment of Providence, he was to suffer before he entered into his glory. By his death on the cross, these sufferings were finished.

That is, the Old Testament dispensation was finished; the mission of Christ to Israel, as the Author of a new religion, was finished; the atonement requisite for the sins of the world was finished; and the sufferings of the Messiah were finished.

I. The ancient dispensation, which had been erected, and the plan of Providence which had been carrying on to introduce the time of the Messiah, were now finished.

When our first parents had broken the covenant of innocence, had forfeited their title to immortality, and exposed themselves to the sanction of the violated law, the Judge descended to pronounce their sentence. But along with the terrors of the Judge, he mingled also the grace of the Saviour; and, when he pronounced their doom, he comforted them with the hopes of mercy. He discovered to them his benevolent design of redeeming the world by a mediator, who was to interpose in their behalf, and gave them the gracious promise, that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent. Thus, no sooner had mau fallen, than the Redeemer was promised, who was to repair the ruins of his fail. In the following ages, the Providence of God seems to have been entirely occupied in preparing the world for this great event. If he manifests himself to the patriarchs, it is to shew them the day of the Messiah afar off; if he inspires the prophets, it is to foretel his appearance; if he chooses a peculiar people, it is to render them the depositories of the promises concerning his coming; if he appoints sacrifices, ceremonies, and religious rites, it is to trace beforehand the paschal lamb, which, being sprinkled on the doors of the Israelites, secured them from the destroying angel? It was a figure of Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, who, as our passover, was sacrificed to deliver us from eternal death. Do you read of a rock, which, being smitten, furnished waters to a great people? That rock, says Paul, was a figure of Christ, from whom proceed fountains oi living water springing up into everlasting life. Do you read of a brazen serpent

lifted up in the wilderness, which cured the Israelities? It was a type of the Son of man, who was lifted up on the cross for the salvation of the world. In short, the whole legal economy, the whole system of Levitical worship, was intended to prefigure, and to introduce, a better dispensation.

The plan of Providence, which had been carrying on to prepare the world for this great event, was not confined to the Jewish nation; it extended over the whole earth. This was the great end of all the designs of the Deity, and furnishes the key to all the divine dispensations. "If empire rose or fell; if war divided, or peace united, the nations; if learning civilized their manners, or philosophy enlarged their views; all was, by the se cret decree of heaven, made to ripen the world for that fulness of time when Christ was to publish the whole council of God." What a magnificent conception, my friends, does it give us of the divine government, when we behold the princes, the kings, and the masters of the world, entering one after another upon the stage of time, to prepare the way of the Kings of kings!

If, in the Gentile world, a plan was carrying on to prepare the nations for the coming of the Messiah, among the chosen people a dispensation was erected to typify and prefigure the great events of his life. The economy which was established, the sacrifices which were appointed, the ceremonies in their church, and the events in their history, all concurred to this great end. Do you read of a continual burnt-offering? It was a type of him who, through the eternal Spirit, offered up himself a sacrifice without spot unto God. Do you read of the paschal lamb? It was a type of that Lamb which was slain from the foundation of the world. The law only paved the way to the gospel. Moses and the prophets were but the harbingers of the Messiah. This ancient dispensation was now come to a close: and when our Saviour on the cross cried out, "It is finished," the law ceased, the gos pel commenced.

II. The mission of Christ to Israel as the author of a new religion was finished.

God had never left the nations without a witness of himself. In the early ages of the world he sent forth his light and his truth. He manifested himself to the fathers, and taught them the knowledge of the true religion. From

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time to time, righteous men were raised up, and a succession of prophets and of martyrs was carried on, whose lives and doctrines distinguish and adorn the several ages of the world. One nation was chosen above the rest, to whom the living oracles were committed. The particular revelations, which had been delivered in the patriarchal ages, the various rays from the Father of lights, which had been scattered over the earth, were here collected, and shone out with new splendour. Nevertheless, though God was the Author of this dispensation, though he himself was the King of Jeshurun, and a Lawgiver to Israel, the economy, which he established among his own people, was not intended to be immutable, or make the comers thereunto perfect. It is one of the great laws by which this world is governed, that no perfection of any kind is attained of a sudden. There is a rise and progress in the works of nature. This holds in all the productions of the natural, and in all the improvements of the moral world. This also seems to have regulated the divine conduct with respect to the dispensations of grace.

"The light of religion was not poured upon the world all at once, and with its full splendour; the obscurity of the dawn went before the brightness of the noon-day. The will of God was at first made known by revelations, useful indeed, but dark and mysterious. To these succeeded others more clear and perfect. In proportion as the situation of the world rendered it necessary, the Almighty was pleased farther to open and unfold his gracious scheme." The light increased as it shone. Star after star arose to enlighten and bless the earth, till the day-spring from on high appeared. As, in the early period of our days, the instructions which we receive look forward to manhood, and the various steps we take conduct us to future life; so, in this infancy of the church, a dispensation took place which was only intended to introduce a better. Every thing in the Jewish dispensation testified, that it was not intended to last for ever. The presence of God circumscribed to one nation, the place of acceptable worship conûned to Jerusalem, the numerous rites and burdensome ceremonies of the Mosaic law, the typical and shadowy nature of the whole dispensation, showed that it was nothing more than a temporary institution, appointed to introduce a more perfect worship, and prepare the world for a new dispensation, which was to comprehend