{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_51388/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_51388","id":"gutenberg_51388","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51388","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Redemption"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1878 Hatchards edition by David Price, email\nccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                               Redemption.\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  BY THE\n                         REV. EDWARD HOARE, M.A.\n\n  _Vicar of Trinity_, _Tunbridge Wells_; _and Hon. Canon of Canterbury_.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                          HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY.\n                                  1878.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                       PRINTED BY JOHN STRANGEWAYS,\n                         Castle St. Leicester Sq.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n                                   PAGE\n       I.  DELIVERANCE                1\n      II.  ISRAEL                    14\n     III.  THE FIRST-BORN            27\n      IV.  THE BONDSMAN              40\n       V.  RUTH                      52\n      VI.  THE SPIRIT                64\n     VII.  ANATHOTH                  77\n    VIII.  THE PIT                   89\n      IX.  ATONEMENT                101\n       X.  ATONEMENT                116\n      XI.  FORGIVENESS              131\n     XII.  PURITY                   144\n    XIII.  RESTORATION              156\n     XIV.  HEAVEN                   169\n\nI.  DELIVERANCE.\n\n\n    \u2018But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us\n    wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.\u2019\u20141\n    COR. i. 30.\n\nIt is one of the happy characteristics of the present day that persons\nare much more occupied than they used to be with the subject of emotional\nreligion.  The religion of feeling is much more studied than it was forty\nor fifty years ago.  Modern books and modern addresses abound in the\nrecords of what is termed \u2018Experience.\u2019  To a certain extent this is\nwell; for we all require real, deep, heart-religion, and it would indeed\nbe a shocking thing that we should know the truth of God, and still be\nstrangers to the love of Christ.  Love, joy, and peace, are the first\nfruits of the Spirit, and therefore if God the Holy Ghost dwells in our\nhearts it seems clear that we must love Him, that we must rejoice in Him,\nand that we must be at peace resting in His grace.  But, just in\nproportion as we set a high value on the religion of the heart, must we\nsee the importance of a solid foundation of divine truth on which all\ntrue heart-religion must ever rest.  We cannot build a house on the\nsurface of a river.  If we attempt to do so we shall very soon find\nourselves at the bottom.  So feelings are very apt to fail us just when\nwe want them, if they are not the result of a fixed and solid\nacquaintance with the truth of God.  If they do not spring from\nestablished principles they will rise and fall even with the digestion or\nthe weather.  It is, therefore, most important that in these happy days\nof Christian emotion we should have a good foundation of Christian truth,\nand should be well established in those great foundation facts on which,\nwhen all feelings fail us, our souls may rest, and be at peace.\n\nIt is well, therefore, that our attention should be directed to the great\nfoundation subject of Redemption.  It is one on which everything else\nhangs, for if we do not understand redemption, we cannot possibly know\nthe value of the Redeemer; and if we do not know the Redeemer, where will\nour feelings be when the time of pressure comes, and they are all pressed\nout of us by trial?\n\nThere are three questions to be considered carefully at the outset of our\nstudy.  What is meant by Redemption?  How far is our redemption complete?\nAnd what is our present position?  May God the Holy Ghost both direct and\nbless the words which shall be spoken!\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  What is meant by redemption?\n\nOn this subject I cannot help thinking that there is sometimes a good\ndeal of confusion.  People speak of it as if it were the same as ransom,\npropitiation, or atonement, whereas there is surely a great distinction\nbetween them.  There cannot be a doubt that the two are very closely\nconnected: but redemption in Scripture means much more than atonement,\nand always, or at all events generally, includes the idea of deliverance,\nor recovery.  The word itself means to purchase back or to recover by\npurchase; which clearly implies both the payment of the price and the\nrecovery of the purchased possession.  If a man were a prisoner in a\nforeign land, and a ransom were demanded for his release, there would be\ntwo distinct acts necessary to his restoration; first the ransom must be\npaid, and next the dungeon must be thrown open, and the captive brought\nout as a freeman to his home.  Now the first of these acts, viz., the\npayment of the ransom, represents atonement, the ransom price for the\nsatisfaction of the law; but redemption includes the actual deliverance\nas well.  It is the payment of the ransom, and also the actual liberation\nof the captive.  When the four living ones, and twenty-four elders said\n(Rev. v. 9), \u2018Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood,\u2019 they did not\nmean merely that He had shed His blood for them in atonement, but that He\nhad actually gathered them out as a ransomed people, and brought them\nfrom their former captivity to their present joy; for they said, \u2018Thou\nhast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue,\nand people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests:\nand we shall reign on the earth.\u2019  Thus in the Old Testament the idea of\ndeliverance is far more prominent than that of atonement.  When it was\nwritten the doctrine of atonement was not fully revealed, but was wrapped\nin types and prophecies.  But God\u2019s power in delivering was full in view,\nand it became the prominent object in the thoughts of the writers.  Let\nus turn to a few passages in illustration.  In Exod. vi. 6, we find God\nsaying, \u2018I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,\nand I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a\nstretched-out arm, and with great judgments.\u2019  In Deut. vii. 8, Moses\nsaid, \u2018The Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out\nof the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.\u2019  In\nJer. xv. 21, when predicting the future restoration of Israel, the Lord\nsays by the prophet, \u2018I will deliver them out of the hand of the wicked,\nand redeem them out of the hand of the terrible.\u2019  In all these passages\nit is perfectly clear that \u2018to redeem\u2019 means \u2018to deliver;\u2019 and that when\nGod said, \u2018I will redeem them,\u2019 He meant that He would set them free.\nAnd this is very clearly illustrated by the remarkable prophecy of Isa.\nlix. 20, when compared with the quotation of it, Rom. xi. 26.  In the\nprophecy our Blessed Lord and Saviour is called \u2018the Redeemer,\u2019 but in\nthe apostolic quotation \u2018the Deliverer.\u2019  The Redeemer is the Deliverer,\nfor \u2018He gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this\npresent evil world.\u2019\n\nIn the New Testament, however, there is a difference.  When that was\nwritten the ransom price had been paid, for the Lord Jesus Christ had\ndied; so that in it the atonement by the Son of God becomes more\nprominent than the deliverance.  The blood of the Lamb is continually\nconnected with redemption there, as for example in such a passage as\nTitus, ii. 14, \u2018Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all\niniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good\nworks;\u2019 and in the words just quoted from Rev. v. 9, \u2018Thou hast redeemed\nus to God by thy blood.\u2019\n\nBut both Old and New agree in teaching that redemption is deliverance, or\nrecovery, through a ransom or atonement.  In both \u2018to redeem\u2019 combines\nthe exercise of power with the satisfaction of every lawful claim.  It\nconsists of two parts, atonement and deliverance.  Atonement, therefore,\nis a part of redemption, but not the whole.  It is the first great act on\nwhich the subsequent deliverance depends, but it is not the deliverance.\nThrough atonement the satisfaction is made for sin, and by virtue of that\nsatisfaction we are set free; and that deliverance through atonement is\nthe redemption of the Gospel.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nII.  We may proceed, then, to our second question.  How far is our\nredemption complete?  And the answer to that question is, that of the two\nparts the one is complete, but not the other.\n\nThe ransom, or atonement, is complete, and there is no possibility of\nadding anything to that, as in the words of our Communion Service \u2018who\nmade there (by His one oblation of Himself once offered) a full, perfect\nand sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the\nwhole world,\u2019 or, as in the words of Scripture, \u2018By one offering he hath\nperfected for ever them that are sanctified.\u2019  That is done for ever and\never.  All the masses of the Church of Rome, and all that men call\nsacrificial offering, can add nothing to it.  All that they can do is to\nthrow a shade over its glory.  Two hundred million pounds were paid by\nconquered France as her ransom, and of what use would it now be if any\npatriotic Frenchman should endeavour to add to the security of his\ncountry by paying an additional five shillings to the Prussians?  So when\nthe precious life of the Son of God has been laid down as our ransom, and\nwhen God\u2019s covenant has been completely fulfilled, shall we now go and\nadd to it\u2014a mass?\n\nBut the deliverance is not finished, and therefore in the sense of\ndeliverance the redemption is not yet complete.  The atonement was\nperfected on the cross, but the deliverance will not be perfected till\nthe Advent.  Thus there are many passages in which it is spoken of as\nstill future.  In St. Luke, xxi. 28, our Lord said, \u2018When these things\nbegin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your\nredemption draweth nigh.\u2019  In Rom. viii. 23, those who have the\nfirst-fruits of the Spirit are described as waiting for \u2018the redemption\nof the body,\u2019 or, in other words, for the final deliverance of the body\nitself at the resurrection, _i.e._, for the gift promised through the\nprophet Hosea, \u2018I will redeem them from death.\u2019  So in the Epistle to the\nEphesians the saints are said both to have redemption, and to be looking\nfor it.  In chap. i. 7, they are described as having it.  \u2018In whom we\nhave redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to\nthe riches of his grace,\u2019 and in chap. iv. 30, as waiting for it, \u2018Ye are\nsealed unto the day of redemption.\u2019  The reason is that the atoning blood\non which forgiveness rests has been long since shed, and the atonement\nperfected.  He \u2018has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a\ncurse for us.\u2019  But the final deliverance will not be complete till His\nreturn, when all God\u2019s elect from all ages and all countries shall be all\ngathered together in one, without a sorrow, and without a fear, without\ndeath, without sin, without even a temptation to mar their joy; one vast\ncompany ransomed by one atoning sacrifice saved by one perfect Saviour,\ninheritors of one glorious kingdom, and bound together in one heavenly\nfellowship in a blessed eternity of never-ending joy.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nIII.  What, then, is our present position? of course I mean the position\nof those that are really in Christ Jesus?  I think this may be very well\nillustrated by the words of Moses, Exod. xv. 13: \u2018Thou in thy mercy hast\nled forth thy people whom thou hast redeemed.\u2019  Those people had been set\nfree from Egypt, and therefore were said to be redeemed.  They were\nalready free, but they were not yet in Canaan, or nearly so.  They had\nnot yet reached \u2018his holy habitation.\u2019  But meanwhile they were in His\nhand, and they might be perfectly sure that He would guide them every\ninch of their way.\n\nNow that appears to be exactly our position.  If we be in Christ Jesus we\nare already free.  Our ransom has been paid, our atonement completed, and\nwe are free.  We are free from both the imputation and dominion of sin.\nFrom the imputation, because the curse is gone; and from the dominion,\nfor we are not under the law but under grace.  This part of redemption is\nnot a future thing which we should be always seeking, and never finding;\nalways praying for, and never enjoying; always aiming at, but never\nreaching.  It is the present, blessed, sacred gift of every one of you\nthat is in Christ Jesus.  You are not like Israel in bondage in Egypt,\nnor even like Israel shut in by the rocks at Pi-hahiroth; but you are\nlike Israel on the eastern bank of the Red Sea, with Pharaoh and his host\nsunk beneath the flood.  The language of Scripture twice repeated is, \u2018In\nwhom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.\u2019\n(Eph. i. 7; Col. i. 14.)  Accept it then, and live in the joy of your new\nposition.  Rejoice in the freedom and give thanks for it.  Let the past\nbondage be forgotten in the joy of the liberty wherewith Christ has made\nyou free; and go forward with a thankful heart to please Him who has thus\ngraciously broken your chain.\n\n(2.)  But remember that you are not yet completely delivered.  Moses was\nso sure that the people would be brought to the holy habitation that he\npraised God for it as if it was already theirs, though they had many a\nlong mile to traverse, and many a hard battle to fight, before they\nreached it.  So you may be perfectly sure of it, for you are \u2018sealed unto\nthe day of redemption,\u2019 and no one can break the seal.  That day of\nredemption is perfectly sure to come, and you cannot be disappointed.\nBut meanwhile you have a journey, and a fight.  To say nothing of all\nthat is around you, there are two things that you still carry within,\nviz. death and sin.  There is death, yes! that very death that was\novercome when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, still working secretly\nwithin you; and, if the day of redemption does not come first, perfectly\ncertain to bring you to the grave.  And there is sin, the deadly sin of\nyour fallen nature, not yet removed, but ready to poison the very\nfountains of your soul.  If you think you have done with either death or\nsin, you will be sorely disappointed before you have travelled far.  Your\nfinal redemption is not yet completed.  You are free from the curse, free\nfrom the condemnation, free from the slavery, but you have not yet\nreached home.  You must not, therefore, lay aside your armour, nor must\nyou be disheartened even if you meet with that which makes you groan, for\nwe read in Rom. viii. 23, \u2018Even we ourselves,\u2019 which have the\nfirst-fruits of the Spirit, \u2018groan within ourselves, waiting for the\nadoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.\u2019\n\n(3.)  But our delightful assurance is that all the while we are safe in\nour Redeemer\u2019s hand.  He has delivered; He will deliver; and He is\ndelivering.  Or, if we take the word \u2018redeem\u2019 in its full sense, He has\nredeemed; He will redeem; and He is now redeeming.  He has set us free by\nHis finished atonement.  He will set us free by His resurrection power;\nand He is now setting us free by the mighty indwelling of God the Holy\nGhost.  See, then, the unspeakable blessedness of such a text as that in\nJerem. L. 34: \u2018Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Hosts is his name:\nhe shall thoroughly plead their cause.\u2019  He is our Redeemer, for He has\nredeemed us by His blood: He is a strong Redeemer, for He is the Lord of\nHosts: He is a gracious Redeemer, for He pleads for His people; and\nputting all together, He is a perfectly sure Redeemer, so we will trust\nHim never to leave us for a moment, till He give to every one of us a\ntriumphant victory, and present us sinless and deathless before His\nglorious throne, saved by His grace, redeemed by His blood.\n\n\n\n\nII.  ISRAEL.\n\n\n    \u2018Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will\n    bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid\n    you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched-out\n    arm, and with great judgments.\u2019\u2014EXOD. vi. 6.\n\n    \u2018Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast\n    redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy\n    habitation.\u2019\u2014EXOD. xv. 13.\n\nTHESE texts have a very important connexion with each other.  The first\ncontains God\u2019s promise when He appeared to Moses and promised deliverance\nto Israel.  The second is part of the thanksgiving of Moses when the\nfirst portion of the promise had been fulfilled and Israel was free.  \u2018I\nwill redeem,\u2019 said God.  \u2018Thou hast redeemed,\u2019 said Moses.  Of course\nboth passages refer to the deliverance from Egypt, and both show\nperfectly clearly that the word \u2018to redeem\u2019 means \u2018_to_ deliver,\u2019 and not\nmerely to make atonement, or satisfaction, for sin.  They both,\ntherefore, throw great light on the subject of redemption.\n\nWe know, on the authority of the New Testament, that the redemption of\nIsrael was typical of the great redemption of God\u2019s people.  But for my\nown part, I believe that it was more than typical.  I believe it is to be\nregarded as the first great act of God in the redemption of His people.\nUp to that time there had been no deliverance, or no redemption.  This\nwas the first redemption in history, the first act in the great series\nwhich will be finally completed at the Advent, when death and hell shall\nbe cast into the lake of fire.  I believe this to be the reason why, at\nthe commencement of it, God made Himself known by the name of \u2018Jehovah.\u2019\nMany people think that the real meaning of that sacred name is \u2018Yahveh,\u2019\n\u2018the coming one.\u2019  This \u2018coming one\u2019 appears to have been expected by Eve\nherself, and all the line of believing patriarchs had lived and died in\nexpectation of His advent.  But their hopes had not been realized, as the\ntime had not come for the manifestation of His power.  But when Israel\nwas in the depths of his deep calamity, a bondsman in a foreign land and\nfar away from home, then God appeared to His chosen servant whom He had\nraised up as His leader, and said to him, \u2018I am the Yahveh, the coming\none;\u2019 and through him He promised to Israel, \u2018I will redeem you with a\nstretched-out arm, and with great judgments.\u2019\n\nIf this be the case, it gives a peculiar interest to the narrative,\nbecause it shows that we are to regard this deliverance of Israel as the\nact of the pre-existent \u2018Coming One,\u2019 the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of\nGod.  It was not merely a type of the coming salvation; but it was\nwrought by the same person who is now saving us, so that we may see in it\nthe actual commencement of the saving work of our own beloved Redeemer.\nIt was both a type and a reality.  It was a prophetic picture of what He\nwas about to do, and at the same time the commencement of His work as the\nDeliverer.  Let us, then, study it with care, and may He who has redeemed\nus by His blood teach us by His Spirit!\n\nYou will remember that we found in the previous lecture, that redemption\nis deliverance through ransom, and, therefore, consists of two parts\u2014the\nsaving act and the atoning blood, or, in other words, the power and the\nsatisfaction.  Let us consider both, as exhibited in the deliverance of\nIsrael.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  The saving act, or the power.\n\nIn studying this we cannot do better than follow the guidance of Exod.\nvi. 6, where we learn that He saved them from their burdens, from their\nbondage, and from inextricable difficulties.\n\n(1.)  From their _burdens_.  \u2018I will bring you out from under the burdens\nof the Egyptians.\u2019\n\nThere are many burdens that weigh heavily on man, so that St. Paul said,\neven when he was sealed by the Holy Ghost: \u2018We that are in this\ntabernacle do groan being burdened.\u2019  There are burdens on the strength\nwhen a man has to toil beyond his powers: burdens on the heart when we\nfeel a weight of sorrow as we witness the sufferings of those we love:\nburdens on the thoughts when some heavy care rests upon us, and produces\ndepression of spirits: and, above all, burdens on the conscience when the\nsense of sin troubles us, when we know we have been wrong, and when the\npresent conviction of our own utter unworthiness weighs heavily on the\nheart.\n\nThese burdens come from many sources.  Sometimes they are laid upon us by\nthe providence of God, and sometimes they are of our own creation.  For\nexample, the great pain of the burden of sin is that we know it is our\nown fault, and, therefore, it involves the bitter pain of self-reproach.\n\nBut some of these burdens are not always felt, or, if felt, not really\ncared for.  People are ready to complain of them; but they are not really\nlonging to be free.  They are very much like Israel in Egypt.  Israel\ngroaned and grumbled, but yet when a deliverer came to them from God,\nthey did not care to be delivered.  Turn to their words of reproach which\nthey spake to Moses when the Egyptians were pursuing them, Exod. xiv. 12,\n\u2018Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us\nalone that we may serve the Egyptians?\u2019  They groaned a great deal, but\nyet they wished to be let alone.  They had no faith in delivering power,\nso they preferred to bear their burden rather than run any risk in their\neffort to be free.  How many are there to this day just like them, who\nconfess their burden, who lament their burden, who wish to be free of\ntheir burden, if they can be so without difficulty, but who yet, when you\ntell them of the saving power of the Lord Jesus reply in their hearts,\n\u2018Let us alone!\u2019\n\nNow remember that our blessed Lord and Saviour is a Saviour from the\nburden, whatever the burden be.  If He does not take it away He will give\nyou power to bear it.  He is the burden-bearer as well as the sin-bearer;\nand if He does not remove the burden He is sure to sustain you under it,\nfor He has said, \u2018Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain\nthee.\u2019  But He will one day remove the burden.  This is what He did for\nIsrael.  He promised to \u2018bring them out from under their burdens,\u2019 and He\ndid it, and we may trust Him to do the same by us.  He will do it in His\nown time, and His own way.  \u2018The time appointed may be long but the thing\nis true, and the day is coming when every burden will be gone for ever,\nand the most burdened heart amongst us will appear in perfect rest in the\npresence of the Lord.\n\n(2.)  But He promised, also, to save them from their _bondage_.  They\nwere bondsmen in Egypt.  They were not freemen, as we are, but slaves.\nThey were not free to choose their own master, or to come and go at their\npleasure.  They could not leave their homes without the permission of the\nking, for they were under a legal yoke.  If they had no work to do, nor\nany burdens laid on them, they would still have been bondsmen.  Moses was\nbrought up in all the luxury of a palace; but still he was a slave.  So,\nwhen God undertook to deliver, the first thing He did was to break the\nbondage of this legal yoke.  He set them free that He might bring them\nout, and save them.  So long as they were in bondage they could not move,\nso He broke the chain and they were free.  Can anything be more complete\nas a type of what He does for us?  Those whom God hath not set free are\n\u2018all their lifetime subject to bondage.\u2019  They are bound by what St. Paul\ndescribes, Rom. viii. 2, as \u2018the law of sin and death.\u2019  So long as the\nguilt of unforgiven sin rests on the conscience, they cannot be free.  It\nmatters not where they are or what they are doing.  They may be bowed\ndown by hard work, or living in ease and idleness; but in either case\nthey are bondsmen, and they are condemned under the law, and bound by it.\nThey cannot shake it off, or get clear of it, for it is a condemnation by\nGod Himself, and they cannot break His chain.  Indeed, their efforts to\nget free very frequently produce just the same result as the efforts of\nIsrael did when they strove to get free from Pharaoh.  The only result of\ntheir effort was that the burden became heavier, and the bondage more\nsevere.  How often is this the case with persons struggling to get free\nfrom the burden and bondage of sin!  They try, and try again, and the\nonly result is, that they get deeper into difficulty.  They have at last\nto make their bricks without the straw, and seem worse off than ever.\nBut then it is that the Redeemer appears, and says, \u2018I will rid them out\nof their bondage.\u2019  He has borne the burden, and having done so He breaks\nthe yoke.  He removes the imputation of sin, and when that is gone we are\nfree, free to arise and follow Him; free to go forth to the promised\nland; free to walk fearlessly with God; free because \u2018Christ has made us\nfree;\u2019 because \u2018the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us\nfree from the law of sin and death.\u2019\n\n(3.)  But once more; He delivered them from what, as far as man was\nconcerned, were insuperable _difficulties_.\n\nIt is not an uncommon thing to meet with persons who really hope that\nthey are delivered from the imputation of sin, and therefore free from\nthe bondage of the law, who still feel the greatest difficulty in their\nprogress in a Christian life.  They really hope that a great change has\ntaken place.  They are in a very different position to what they once\nwere.  But still they cannot get on.  It appears as if there was a\nbarrier they could not pass.  Their way is blocked by some besetting sin\nwhich they cannot overcome, and they are sometimes almost tempted to say\nthat it was better with them before they began their struggle.  Such a\ntemptation is very wrong; but there is nothing new in it, for it is just\nwhat Israel felt when they found their way blocked by the Red Sea.  They\nthen said (chap, xiv. 12), \u2018It had been better for us to serve the\nEgyptians than to die in the wilderness.\u2019  They had been set free, but\nprogress appeared impossible.  Now let any one who thinks his own\nprogress impossible look well at these facts.  It was perfectly true that\nthose people were hopelessly hedged in between the sea and Pharaoh\u2019s\nhost.  There was nothing that they could do to overcome their difficulty.\nBut Jehovah had promised, \u2018I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm,\u2019\nand the result was that when Moses stretched forth his rod, the sea\nitself opened to let them pass.  Some excellent persons have endeavoured\nto explain this by supposing some remarkable combination of wind and\ntide.  But we do not want the help of such explanations.  It is better to\naccept it at once as a miracle that cannot be explained, a miracle\nwrought out by the strong arm of the Redeemer.  And, remember, that it is\nthe same strong arm which can deliver the very weakest amongst us from\nthe greatest difficulties which ever yet beset the path of the Christian.\nYou say, \u2018I cannot,\u2019 but He says, \u2018_I_ can.\u2019  You say, \u2018I have tried; and\nit is impossible.\u2019  He says, \u2018With God nothing is impossible.\u2019  Never,\ntherefore, again must you say, \u2018It cannot be.\u2019  If the Lord has set you\nfree from the dreadful yoke of imputed sin; if the Redeemer Himself is\nleading you to the promised land, remember that your \u2018Redeemer is strong,\nthe Lord of Hosts is His name;\u2019 and whatever be your practical, personal,\npeculiar difficulty, He is just as well able to overcome it as He was to\ndivide the Red Sea: so that, trusting Him you may be delivered as Israel\nwas delivered, and be enabled, with a thankful heart to say, \u2018Thou in thy\nmercy hast led forth the people whom thou hast redeemed.\u2019\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nII.  But we must not look only at the deliverance, for redemption means\ndeliverance through ransom, or through blood, and we must not forget the\nransom, or redemption price.  What in this case was the ransom?  It was\nnot Pharaoh\u2019s host drowned in the Red Sea, for the bondage of Israel was\nbroken before that event occurred.  Nor was it the death of the\nfirst-born in Egypt, for that could not be regarded as the ransom of\nIsrael, though I fully admit that it was closely connected with it.  For\nmy own part I believe it was the blood of the Paschal Lamb on the night\nof the Passover.  But you may say what a little thing that was as the\nransom of a nation!  Perfectly true; but remember, it was a type.  The\nwhole transaction was a type.  The people were a type; the deliverance\nwas a type; and, therefore, it is only natural to expect that the ransom,\ntoo, would be a type.  Now we learn that the Paschal Lamb was a type of\nour blessed Saviour, for we read, 1 Cor. v. 7, \u2018Christ our passover is\nsacrificed for us,\u2019 and, therefore, as that paschal lamb was a prophetic\npicture of Him and His sacrifice, we can see in a moment how it was that\nit was the ransom price in the redemption of Israel.  It was an\nantedating of the future sacrifice of the Son of God, and it, as it were,\ncarried back the power of the great atonement, and applied it 1500 years\nbefore it happened to the redemption of Israel.  I can see, therefore,\nperfectly clearly why the deliverance of Israel was called a redemption;\nfor they were redeemed by the same ransom as we are even by the precious\nblood of Christ.  It was shed, it is true, 1500 years after their\ndeliverance, but even then it was prefigured and applied, and even then\nit was effectual.  What, then, is our conclusion?  Is it not surely this?\nIf the burden of Israel was removed, the yoke of Egypt broken, the way\nopened through the Red Sea, and all through the type, may not we be\nperfectly sure that our burdens will be removed, our yoke broken, and our\ndifficulty overcome through the effectual power of the reality?  Look,\nthen, at that most precious blood of Christ; look at Him as the Lamb of\nGod that taketh away the sins of the world; look at Him as your ransom\nand Deliverer, and never again admit the thought that the yoke of sin\u2019s\ncondemning power is too fast fixed ever to be broken, or the hindrances\nof sin\u2019s obstructing power too desperate to be overcome.  But when you\ngroan under the yoke let your heart rest in redeeming blood; and when you\nfeel the difficulty of progress then look to redeeming power, so that the\nyoke being broken through the blood, and victory given by the power, you\nmay go on your way with the song of Moses in your heart, \u2018The Lord is my\nstrength and song, and he is become my salvation.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nIII.  THE FIRST-BORN.\n\n\n    \u2018But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if\n    thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck.  All the\n    firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem.  And none shall appear\n    before me empty.\u2019\u2014EXOD. xxxiv. 20.\n\nMAN is a very forgetful being, and there is nothing which he seems to\nforget so much as mercy.  It takes a great deal to make us forget a\ntrouble, but very little to wipe away the thought of mercy.  Thus when\nGod has wrought great acts He has not unfrequently appointed memorials in\norder to keep them in remembrance, and has provided for the failure of\nman\u2019s memory by appointing something that may continually remind him of\nthe past.  Sometimes it has been a stone or monument, as, _e.g._ at the\npassage of Jordan, but more frequently it has been an institution, such\nas the Paschal Supper as a memorial of the Passover, and the Holy\nCommunion, or the Supper of the Lord, in remembrance of His death and\npassion.  These institutions have lasted much longer than the material\nmonuments.  The Paschal Supper lasted fifteen centuries, and the Lord\u2019s\nSupper has already lasted more than eighteen.  It seems a very simple\ninstitution.  What can be more simple than to partake together of a\nlittle bread and wine in thankful remembrance of His death?  But it has\nnever been forgotten by the people of God, and never will be till the\nAdvent.  Wherever Christ has been preached this memorial feast has been\nobserved.  In all ages and all countries it has been the joy of God\u2019s\npeople.  In all mission-stations as well as in our churches at home,\nalways and everywhere, the sacred memorial has been reverently and\nlovingly observed by those who name the name of Jesus.\n\nBut besides the Paschal Supper there was another institution ordained as\na remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt.  For as Israel was delivered\nthrough the death of the first-born of the Egyptians, it was established\nas a law in Israel that all their first-born both of man and beast should\nbe given up to God.  The law is given, and the reason of it, in Exod.\nxiii.  In v. 2, we find the law, \u2018Sanctify unto me all the first-born,\nwhatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and\nbeast: it is mine;\u2019 and in v. 14, the reason, \u2018And it shall be, when thy\nson asketh thee in time to come saying, What is that? that thou shalt say\nto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt from the\nhouse of bondage;\u2019 and in the 16th verse we are taught that it was for a\nperpetual memorial before God, \u2018And it shall be for a token upon thy\nhand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the\nLord brought us out from Egypt.\u2019\n\nWe are not told what was involved in this separation unto God of the\nfirst-born of the sons.  Some think, and not without reason, that they\nwere separated unto the priesthood, but on this we have no distinct\ninformation.  One thing is clear, that in some peculiar manner they were\nthe Lord\u2019s.  In Exod. xxii. 29, \u2018The first-born of thy sons thou shalt\ngive unto me.\u2019  So in Num. iii. 13, \u2018Because all the first-born are\nmine.\u2019  Was there not an allusion to this in Hannah\u2019s words when she\nsaid, \u2018I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life\u2019? and was\nthere not again a distinct reference to it in the presentation of our\nBlessed Saviour to the temple, as we read in Luke, ii. 23?  In the case\nof Samuel and our Blessed Lord there was clearly a consecration to a\nspecial and exclusive service; so whatever was the precise form of\nseparation, one thing is perfectly clear, that in a peculiar and especial\nmanner the first-born were set apart unto God.  There was a vast\ndifference between God\u2019s ordinance and man\u2019s habit.  It is a very common\nthing with man to devote the first-born to the world, and the second,\nthird, or fourth son to the ministry; or, extending the principle, to\nconsider that which is second in our own affections to be good enough for\nGod.  But He claims the first of all, that which is the first to bring\njoy to the mother\u2019s heart, and which is first to claim the mother\u2019s love;\nthat which has for a time the concentrated interest of the only child.\nThe Jewish parent was not to wait till he had many.  It was when the\nmother had only one, that that one was to be given to God.\n\nBut it is the redemption of the first-born which we are now to study.  In\nthis verse we are told, \u2018All the first-born of thy sons thou shalt\nredeem.\u2019  According to the law there was a legal claim on every\nfirst-born, whether of man or animal, but still there was provision made\nin most cases for their redemption or release, and it is to this\nprovision that I am anxious now to turn your thoughts.\n\nIt differed in different classes.\n\nFor sacrificial animals, such as the sheep, or the goat, there was no\nredemption.  They were all offered in sacrifice, Num. xviii. 17, \u2018But the\nfirstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a\ngoat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their\nblood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by\nfire, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.\u2019\n\nFor other useful animals, such as the ass, there was redemption.  The ass\nmight be redeemed by a lamb, but if it was not redeemed, its neck was to\nbe broken, Exod. xxxiv. 20.  \u2018But the firstling of an ass thou shalt\nredeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then thou shalt break his\nneck.\u2019  If redeemed, it was saved from death by substitution.  It was\nredeemed by vicarious death.  The lamb was the substitute for the colt,\nso the lamb died, and the colt was free.  You see how the principle of\nsubstitution pervades the prophecies of the Jewish ritual.\n\nThe same principle of substitution appears in the redemption of the\nfirst-born sons.  But there is a marked difference between that made for\nthem, and that for the animals, viz., that the law did not admit the idea\nof any such thing as human sacrifice, and therefore the sons were not\nlike the animals subject to death.  They belonged to God for service, not\nfor death, and the redemption price was of the same character as the yoke\nfrom which they were redeemed.  Thus you find the whole tribe of Levi\ngiven up as the redemption price of the first-born of the other tribes.\nThe transaction is explained, Num. iii. 41.  \u2018Thou shalt take the Levites\nfor me (I am the Lord) instead of all the first-born among the children\nof Israel.\u2019  Thus all the men amongst the Levites were numbered, and all\nthe first-born amongst the other tribes, and by divine authority the\nLevites were solemnly given up as a substitute for the others, Num. iii\n45: \u2018Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of\nIsrael, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle: and the\nLevites shall be mine: I am the Lord.\u2019\n\nBut here a difficulty arose, and it is one which teaches us the extreme\ndanger of giving a typical authority to all the institutions of the Old\nTestament.  There was clearly in this case the principle of substitution.\nThe Levites were substituted for the first-born, and the first-born were\nfree.  The transaction was, therefore, an illustration of the work of the\natonement.  But yet if we were to regard it as a divine type of it we\nshould be landed in a most dangerous and unscriptural conclusion, for in\nthe case of the first-born the substituted gift was insufficient; so that\nif we were to call those Levites a type of the Lord Jesus, we might\ngather that His sacrifice was insufficient, and required something else\nas a supplement.  Be very careful, therefore, how you call anything a\ntype which is not declared to be one by God Himself.\n\nWhen the Levites were numbered it turned out that there were only 22,000;\nbut the number of the first-born males of the other tribes was 22,273.\nThe substitution, therefore, fell short by 273 persons.  It clearly,\ntherefore, could be no type of the Lord Jesus, for there was no falling\nshort in Him.  The result was that a supplement was necessary.  Five\nshekels of silver was to be added for each of the 273, and when that was\npaid the whole of the first-born were redeemed.  This money payment\nafterwards became a permanent institution in Israel, and appears to have\nbeen continued long after the original transaction was complete.  In Num.\nxviii. 16, we find the direction that \u2018all that are to be redeemed . . .\nshalt thou redeem . . . for the money of five shekels, after the shekel\nof the sanctuary.\u2019\n\nNow in this Levitical picture there are many things that bear a close\nresemblance to the Gospel.  There was a clear legal claim, and the\nremission of that claim by substitution, or the payment of a redemption\nprice.  And this may serve to illustrate the claim which the law has on\nus all, and the remission of the claim by the substitution of the Son of\nGod.  But, as I have already said, we must be very careful how we call it\na type, for the contrasts are more remarkable than the resemblances.\nThere are two points of contrast to which I would draw your most especial\nattention, points which I can scarcely doubt you have yourselves observed\nalready.\n\nIn the first place, the freedom or the release bestowed on the first-born\nthrough redemption was the exact opposite of that bestowed on us through\nthe redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  They were redeemed _from_ God;\nbut we are redeemed _to_ God, as we read Rev. v. 9, \u2018Thou hast redeemed\nus to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and\nnation.\u2019  Before they were redeemed, all the first-born were the Lord\u2019s,\nand were enrolled as a separate people belonging in a special and\npeculiar manner to Him; so that He said of them, Num. iii. 13, \u2018All the\nfirst-born are mine.\u2019  The effect of the redemption was to put an end to\nthis sacred relationship, and to place them on the same footing as the\nother members of the family.  It released them from all that was involved\nin their being a peculiar people unto God.  They ceased, in short, to be\na peculiar people.  Now this is the exact reverse of the redemption that\nis in Christ Jesus.  The effect of His work is to call out a peculiar\npeople unto God, and so separate us unto Himself, that He may say of us,\nas He said of the first-born, \u2018All are mine.\u2019  You remember how clearly\nthis is put in Titus, ii. 14, \u2018Who gave himself for us.\u2019  There is the\nredemption price, and the next clause teaches the object of it, \u2018that he\nmight redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar\npeople, zealous of good works.\u2019  Those, therefore, whom he has redeemed\nare purified as \u2018a peculiar people unto himself.\u2019  We are brought by\nredemption into the position from which the first-born were delivered.\nAnd I cannot help thinking that there is an allusion to this fact in that\ngreat description of the Christian\u2019s position in Heb xii.  We there read,\nin ver. 23, that we are come \u2018to the general assembly and church of the\nfirst-born which are written in heaven.\u2019  What is the meaning of that\nexpression?  Why are believers called the first-born, and why were their\nnames thus written?  Is it not because they are brought into the same\npeculiar relationship to God which was the inheritance of the first-born?\nBecause, as the first-born were His own so are we?  And because as they\nwere enrolled as being His in the national register, so are we in the\nbook of life?  And is there any one amongst us that would wish to be free\nfrom that peculiarity?  Is there one that has ever knelt down in the\nfulness of his heart and said, \u2018Lord, I am thine,\u2019 who would now rise up\nand say, \u2018But I wish to be thine no more\u2019?  Is there any one who has ever\nborne the yoke of the Lord Jesus who would now wish to throw it off, and\nbe free?  No, never!  We wish to be free from all that keeps us back from\nHim; free from every weight and from the sin which doth so easily beset\nus: free from every temptation that tends to hinder us in His service.\nBut free from Christ!  Never, never, never!  The desire of our heart is\nto be His altogether; His without reserve; His in the exercise of all our\npowers; His in life; His in death; His for eternity; His whatever may be\ngiven up for His service; His, so completely, so truly, so heartily, that\nwe may be able to say in the sincerity of our souls, \u2018Whether we live, we\nlive unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we\nlive, therefore, or die, we are the Lord\u2019s.\u2019\n\nBut there is another most marked point of contrast to which I have\nalready alluded, but which we ought to consider more carefully before we\nclose.  There was an essential difference of character between the\nredemption price in the case of the first-born and in ours.  In theirs\nthere was no shedding of blood.  There was substitution, but not\nblood-shedding.  The life of the child was not forfeited to the law, so\nthe life of the substitute was not taken in its stead.  It was a gift of\nservice for service, the service of the Levite for the service of the\nchild.  Then again it was a mixed, and composite substitution.  The\nsubstitution of the Levites was insufficient, so the defect was made up\nby the 1365 shekels of silver.  But in our case, as our lives were\nforfeited by sin, His life was given in our stead; and who shall say that\nit was insufficient?  May we not rather say, \u2018She hath received at the\nLord\u2019s hand double for all her sins,\u2019 for \u2018with Him is plenteous\nredemption?\u2019  We have no need to supplement His sacrifices by silver.  It\nappears that St. Peter had reference to this very contrast and to those\nsupplemented shekels, when he said, 1 Pet. i. 18, \u2018Forasmuch as ye know\nthat ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,\nfrom your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers: but\nwith the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and\nwithout spot.\u2019  Some people might possibly think more of redemption if\nthe redemption price consisted of gold and silver, for they seem to care\nmore for money than for the most precious blood of Christ; at all events,\nthey appear to cling much faster to it.  But what can money do for you\nwhen you are face to face with God?  And what can man do for you when\nyour conscience is bowed down by the weight of sin?  No vicarious work of\nother men, and no gifts, however great, can set you free from the yoke\nand condemnation of the law.  That will never enable you to say, as was\nsaid to me last week by one well known to many of you, \u2018The whole weight\nis gone.\u2019  No, indeed!  All the Levitical service that conscientious men\nmay offer to God, and all the accumulated wealth that the richest amongst\nus may tender as a redemption price, will all together utterly fail to\ntake the weight from one sin-burdened soul.  But the precious blood of\nChrist, of Christ Jesus the one divinely-appointed substitute, that is\nenough; enough, though quite alone, enough to redeem us from the whole\ncurse, and to redeem us from it for ever, that so, by His boundless\ngrace, we may be set apart as the first-born unto God, and live and die\namongst those who are written in heaven.\n\n\n\n\nIV.  THE BONDSMAN.\n\n\n    \u2018After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren\n    may redeem him.\u2019\u2014Lev. xxv. 48.\n\nOUR blessed Lord said in the Sermon on the Mount, \u2018Think not that I am\ncome to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to\nfulfil.\u2019  He did not come as a sweeping reformer to break down existing\ninstitutions, and sweep away the law of types; but He did come as the\npredicted Messiah, to fulfil the prophecies of those prophetic pictures,\nand to give a fresh dignity to the law in which they were embodied.  In\nno instance, therefore, do you find Him violating the law.  He swept away\nwith a strong hand the vain traditions which men had added to it; but the\nlaw itself he always honoured, and His great complaint against the\nadvocates of tradition was, \u2018Ye do make void the commandments of the law\nby your traditions.\u2019\n\nBut it was not only in the practical details of life that He honoured the\nlaw, but in the whole great work of redemption.  Every part of that\nwonderful work was an act of homage to the law.  Not only did He obey it\nwhen He was come, but in the act of coming, or in other words, even in\nHis incarnation, He showed His obedience.\n\nThis will be easily seen if you study the law of redemption as laid down\nin this chapter.  The law is here given respecting one who had sold\nhimself to a stranger.  How many are there who, like the bondsman, have\nsold themselves to sin!  But we must not stop to dwell on that.  The poor\nman had sold himself and was a slave.  Till the year of jubilee nothing\ncould release him but redemption.  But who should pay the redemption\nprice? that was the question.  A stranger was not at liberty to do so.\nHowever kindly disposed he might feel, he had no right or power to\ninterfere.  According to this 48th verse, the Redeemer must be one of his\nbrethren.  \u2018One of his brethren may redeem him: either his uncle or his\nuncle\u2019s son may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his\nfamily, may redeem him; or, if he be able, he may redeem himself.\u2019  The\nslave himself might redeem himself if he had the power to do so.  But\nwhat hope had that slave of procuring his own ransom when all his powers\nand all his time belonged to another?  Who then could redeem him?  Who\ncould set him free?\n\nThe nearest of kin had the prior right, as we see in the case of Boaz and\nRuth.  But if he failed, the next in order of relationship might step in\nand take his place.  But the redeemer must be a kinsman, and none but a\nkinsman could redeem.  So closely are the two things identified, that\nredeemer and kinsman are both expressed by the same word in Hebrew.  The\nsame word stands for both, for the kinsman had the right of redemption,\nand the redeemer was obliged to have a blood relationship.\n\nAnd now observe the manner in which our blessed Lord and Saviour obeyed\nthe law.\n\nWe are all by nature in the position of the man that was sold.  So St.\nPaul said of himself in his natural condition, \u2018I am carnal, sold under\nsin,\u2019 Rom. vii. 14; and therefore he described the law of evil within his\nnature warring against the law of his mind, \u2018and bringing him into\ncaptivity to the law of sin which was in his members.\u2019  There was\ntherefore a captivity resulting from the sale.\n\nBut it is not only the original ruin of our human nature of which the\nexpression is used in Scripture, for it is applied to the personal act of\nthe individual sinner.  Is there not an allusion to this very law in\nthose passages which speak of persons having sold themselves?  Ahab \u2018sold\nhimself to do evil.\u2019  1 Kings, xxi. 20.  In 2 Kings, xvii. 17, the same\nis said of the children of Israel: \u2018They sold themselves to do evil in\nthe sight of the Lord.\u2019  In Isaiah, L. 1, there is a distinct reference\nto the sale to a creditor,\u2014\u2018Which of my creditors is it to whom I have\nsold you?  Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for\nyour transgressions is your mother put away.\u2019  And in Isa. lii. 3, a\nclear allusion to the redemption of the slave, \u2018Ye have sold yourselves\nfor nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.\u2019  The sinner,\ntherefore, is like the man who sold himself.  He has yielded himself to\nbe the servant of sin.  He obeys it, and he does its work.  If he wishes\nto get free he cannot.  He may long for liberty, but he cannot attain it.\nHe may think with bitter regret of past folly that has led to his ruin.\nBut regret cannot restore.  Remorse cannot set him free.  A slave he is,\nand a slave, unless saved by redemption, he must remain.\n\nHow, then, can such an one be redeemed?  That is the question.  It must\nclearly be by a redemption price.  There was no redemption under the law\nwithout a ransom.  In the case of the man who had sold himself, the price\nwas the value of his service until the year of jubilee.  In our case it\nwas infinitely higher, for the Lord Jesus gave Himself \u2018a ransom for\nall.\u2019  The sinner sold himself, and the Lord Jesus gave Himself as a\nransom, and because He has done so, God said by the prophet, \u2018Ye shall be\nredeemed without money.\u2019\n\nBut my object is to consider, not the ransom, but the Redeemer, and to\nexamine who, according to the law, was qualified to redeem.\n\n(1.)  We cannot redeem ourselves.\n\nIt is clear that according to ver. 49, the slave, if he were able, might\nredeem himself.  But it must have been very difficult for a slave, who\nhad sold himself because he was ruined, to accumulate sufficient for his\nown redemption; and it is perfectly clear that it would be utterly\nimpossible for us to accomplish any such redemption for ourselves.\nMultitudes have endeavoured to do so.  They have striven to gain a\nfreedom by tears and toils, and fastings, and almsdeeds, proportioned to\nthe sin committed.  But the only effect has been that the chain has been\nriveted more firmly than ever on their soul.  Instead of providing a\nransom they have daily increased their debt.  And so it will ever be so\nlong as man struggles to redeem himself.  \u2018It cost more to redeem their\nsouls, so they must let that alone for ever.\u2019\n\n(2.)  Then again, angels could not redeem us.  Even if there had been any\nmighty archangel of such majesty as to produce a sufficient ransom, he\nwould have been disqualified for the office, for the simple reason that\nhe would not have been a kinsman.  We know but little of the nature of\nangels, and we cannot realize a mighty spirit perfectly independent of\nthe flesh.  But this we know, that there is a clear and marked\ndistinction between the nature of angels and the nature of man, for we\nread of our blessed Saviour, \u2018He took not on him the nature of angels;\nbut he took on him the seed of Abraham.\u2019  Heb. ii. 16.  The angels,\ntherefore, are not our brethren.  They are not kinsmen, and therefore\nwere not qualified to redeem.  Whatever benevolence they may have felt,\nand whatever compassion for us in our captivity, and whatever joy in our\nsalvation, the whole host of angels and archangels were utterly\ndisqualified to act as redeemers, and, whatever they offered, according\nto the law, they were unable to redeem.\n\n(3.)  But still more.  Even the Son of God Himself, in His eternal\nGodhead, could not redeem, for there lay against Him the same\ndisqualification.  He was eternal, above man, and of a nature altogether\ndifferent.  As the heaven is high above the earth, so is His nature above\nours.  It is high, we cannot attain unto it.  In His divine nature,\ntherefore, our blessed Lord Himself was not a kinsman, and therefore by\nlaw He could not be a Redeemer.  He was not one of the brethren of the\nbondsmen, and therefore could not redeem; and, whatever love He felt for\nus, He was excluded, according to the law, from showing it in redeeming\nmercy.\n\nAnd now you see the homage paid to the law in His incarnation.  When He\ntook on Him our nature He became a kinsman, and could redeem.  See how\nclearly this is put in Heb. ii. 14.  \u2018Forasmuch as the children are\npartakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the\nsame; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of\ndeath, that is, the devil.\u2019  He identified Himself with them in nature in\norder that, being their kinsman, He might have the right of redemption.\nHe took not on Him the nature of angels, for that would not have\nestablished a relationship with man, but He took on Him the seed of\nAbraham, and so became one with the great human family.  The Levitical\nlaw, ver. 48, was, \u2018One of his brethren may redeem him.\u2019  So to carry out\nHis own most gracious purpose of mercy, He took our nature, He made\nHimself a brother, and according to the 11th verse of that chapter in the\nHebrews, \u2018He is not ashamed to call us brethren.\u2019\n\nJust the same truth is taught us in Gal. iv.  In ver. 3, we are described\nas bondsmen: \u2018We were in bondage under the elements of the world.\u2019  And\nwhen our Heavenly Father in boundless love undertook to save, what did He\ndo?  He first prepared a qualified Redeemer, and then that Redeemer\nredeemed us by His blood.  \u2018He sent forth his son, made of a woman, made\nunder the law,\u2019 qualified therefore in all respects, because He was of\nthe same family \u2018to redeem them that were under the law, that we might\nreceive the adoption of sons.\u2019  He became a brother, and, being a\nbrother, redeemed us by His blood.  There was a double act of love and\nmercy: first, in assuming the relationship, and next, in availing himself\nof that relationship in stepping forth to pay the ransom for our release.\nOh! who can tell the love of Christ?  Who can sufficiently exalt His\ngrace?\n\nBut now what is the position of all those that are in Him?  What is the\nposition of all you who have redemption through His blood?  You were\nbondsmen once; sold under sin: sold by the act of Adam, and sold by your\nown conduct afterwards.  As St. Paul says, Rom. vi. 17, \u2018Ye were the\nservants\u2019 or the slaves \u2018of sin.\u2019  But what are you now?  Are you still\nslaves?  No.  Those only who are strangers to salvation in Christ Jesus\nare slaves.  But you are not, for you are free.  Your kinsman has\nappeared and paid the redemption price; so you are free: as completely\nfree as if you had never been in bondage.  The moment that the kinsman\npaid the ransom, the slave was free.  He was not required to stop and\ninquire whether he deserved it or no.  He was not obliged to wait and\nlook into his feelings, and ascertain whether he felt it or no.  The\nransom was paid, and he was free, so that he might go home with a\nthankful heart to show his deep gratitude to the kinsman who had paid it.\nSo it is with you if you be in Christ Jesus.  The creditor has no hold on\nyou, for your kinsman has come forward, and the whole ransom is paid.\nYou are as completely free as you will be if you wait a hundred years.\nYou cannot add anything to the ransom, and there is no need that you\nshould do so, for all is paid, and paid in full.  You may dwell therefore\nin perfect peace in your Father\u2019s home, and with a thankful heart gather\nround your Father\u2019s table, in the peaceful enjoyment of your Father\u2019s\nfellowship, and your Father\u2019s love.\n\nBut think how strange it would have been in olden times, if, when the\nkinsman had come forward and most kindly paid the redemption price, the\npoor bondsman had preferred captivity, and refused the liberty thus\nfreely purchased for him by his brother.  Such things apparently did\nhappen sometimes, though they appear to us almost impossible; for, in\nExod. xxi. 5, the servant is described as plainly saying, \u2018I love my\nmaster . . .  I will not go out free,\u2019 and, when he said that he was\ntaken to the door-post, and his ear was bored through in token that he\nwas a slave for life.  I do not know whether that often happened in\nancient days, but I fear it is a very common occurrence now.  The Son of\nGod has become a kinsman on purpose to redeem, and as a kinsman has\nredeemed us by His blood.  He has come to the master, and having broken\nall his legal power, has proclaimed liberty to the captive, and the\nopening of the prison to them that are bound; but there sits the slave,\ncontent in his slavery, and plainly says, \u2018I love my master; I will not\ngo out free.\u2019  How many are there even amongst ourselves thus indifferent\nto liberty!  They know there is a deliverer; they have heard it: they\nhave read it: they believe it.  They know their kinsman has paid the\nransom, so that, according to the covenant, they may be free.  But they\nlove the old sins, and the old ways, and the old habits, and they have no\nwish to be set free.  They like the old associations, and a change of\nheart might cause a separation from their wives and their children, so\nthey had rather go on as they are, the slaves of sin, the bondsmen of\ntheir own corruption.  Is it unjust that such persons should never be set\nfree?  If the bondsman of old deliberately went to the door-post that his\near should be bored, was it unjust that he should be bound a slave for\never? and if any one of us with the grand offer of the freedom of the\nGospel fully before him, prefers his bondage and will not accept the\npurchased freedom, is it unjust that that man should remain a miserable\nslave?  Oh, that I could persuade those who have thus far been sitting\nstill content with their captivity, to accept the freedom which their\nkinsman now offers them, so that henceforth we may change our note, and\ninstead of saying, \u2018The ransom is paid, come home and enjoy your\nfreedom,\u2019 we may say to them in the full enjoyment of their Father\u2019s\nloving home, \u2018Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you\nfree.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nV.  RUTH.\n\n\n    \u2018And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine\n    own inheritance; redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem\n    it.\u2019\u2014RUTH, iv. 6.\n\nIT has been my sacred privilege to speak lately more than once on the\ngreat subject of redemption as taught in the Old Testament, and the last\ntime I did so I directed your attention to the law of redemption, as laid\ndown in the book of Leviticus.  But that law conveys a very imperfect\nidea of the redemption by our Lord and Saviour.  In some respects there\nis a remarkable agreement, but the type falls utterly short of the\nreality.  Let me mention a single instance.  If the kinsman came forward\nto redeem either the person or property of the debtor, the effect of that\nredemption was to restore the ruined man to his liberty and his home.\nThe forfeited property was restored, and the bondman became free; but\nthere it stopped.  The poor man was no better off after redemption than\nhe was before he was sold.  All that redemption did for him was to\nrestore him to his original position.  Here, then, you see in a moment\nthe enormous difference between this Levitical redemption and the blessed\nwork of our most blessed Saviour.  He raises man by redemption to a\nposition far above his position before the fall.  Adam in Paradise had\nnothing to compare with the sacred inheritance of the saints of God in\nthe kingdom of our Lord.  Man, as represented in Adam, was far below the\nangels; but as redeemed in Christ Jesus, the second Adam, is high above\nthem.  Man in Adam had his inheritance on earth, but redeemed man in\nChrist Jesus is made heir to an \u2018inheritance incorruptible, and\nundefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for him.\u2019\n\nThis point is very well illustrated by the case of Ruth.  The history of\nRuth is not unlike that of Joseph\u2014a remarkable illustration, though never\ndeclared to be a type.  We may, therefore, accept the illustration,\nthough we must not ascribe to it a divine, or typical, authority.\n\nTurning to chapter i., we find that Elimelech, a man of Bethlehem, had\nproperty in Bethlehem-judah, and in consequence of famine and subsequent\npoverty, had emigrated with his wife and two sons to Moab.  When there,\nboth his sons married, but before there was any family born to either of\nthem, both they and their father died.  The three women, therefore, were\nleft widows, and the famine having abated, Naomi decided to return.  She\nappears to have gone back to the old home at Bethlehem, but said that her\nname should be no more Naomi (pleasant), but Marah (bitter), for the old\nhouse had lost its joy.  After her return she struggled on, with Ruth as\nher companion.  At length Boaz, the great man of the neighbourhood, \u2018a\nmighty man of wealth,\u2019 became acquainted with their circumstances, and\nmost kindly interested himself in their condition.  Being related to\nElimelech, he was prepared to step in, and act the part of a kinsman, by\nredeeming the property from sale.  But in this there was a difficulty,\nfor he was not the next of kin, and therefore had no right to redeem (ch.\niii. 12).  But when he who was next of kin heard of it, he declined to\nact, as he could not undertake the burden.  Boaz, therefore, undertook to\npay the redemption price himself.  Is there not a remarkable illustration\nthere of the sacred work of our Kinsman, for when all others failed,\nthough bound by no responsibility, He freely undertook to redeem us\nHimself?  Thus the price was paid, the property was redeemed, the family\ninheritance was preserved, and it is not at all improbable that it was in\nthat very farm that Jesse lived, and David spent his boyhood.\n\nBut I do not want to dwell on the property, but rather to draw your\nattention to the case of Ruth.  It was the stipulation of the covenant\nthat Boaz should redeem all that belonged to Elimelech and his sons, and\ntherefore he was to receive with the property the widow of the deceased\nMahlon.  It was a strange law that gave him such a power, or rather\nimposed on him such a duty.  The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has\nraised the marriage-tie to a sacred position, which would render any such\nregulation quite impossible now.  But it was the law in the time of Boaz,\nand he acted on it when he redeemed the land.\n\nBut now I want you to observe carefully the result.\n\nIf the famine had not reduced Elimelech to poverty, and so compelled him\nto emigrate to Moab, he and his sons would have remained in humble life\non their property at Bethlehem, and as for Ruth she would have dwelt\nunknown in the mountains of Moab.  The famine, therefore, was the first\nlink in the chain.  God\u2019s links are often very different to man\u2019s plans.\nBut after Naomi\u2019s return, it is clear that she and her daughter led a\nstruggling life, and were reduced so low that their property was\nadvertised for sale.  If all had gone well with them, they would\napparently have been just able to live, and as it was, they were very\nglad of kind and generous help.  But now observe the effect of\nredemption, and see how it raised Ruth above the position which either\nshe herself, or the family of Elimelech, had occupied before the time of\ntheir distress.\n\nThere are two things to be noticed.\n\n(1.)  She became the bride of the man who had redeemed her.  Before the\nredemption he was kind to her, and gave her six measures of barley into\nher veil.  But by virtue of the redemption he made her his own, received\nher to a share of all he had, and bound himself to her by the sacred tie\nof a life-long affection.  Now have we not here a remarkable illustration\nof the blessed truth that by redemption we are raised to a position\nincomparably higher than that from which man originally fell?  The Church\nof God is not like the young gleaner receiving a few shekels of barley as\na generous gift; but by redeeming blood it is raised into the position of\nthe Bride of the Lamb, and made to sit together in heavenly places in\nChrist Jesus.  Look at the description of this union as the result of\nredemption in Eph. v. 25: \u2018Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself\nfor it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water\nby the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not\nhaving spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy\nand without blemish.\u2019  If, therefore, we have redemption through His\nblood, we are not merely permitted to glean behind His reapers, but we\nare brought into a relationship the most sacred and intimate that it is\npossible for the human heart to imagine.  We live in His presence, we are\nmade partakers of His kingdom, we may rest in His love.  His promise is,\n\u2018As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice\nover thee.\u2019  And even when we are most deeply and painfully humbled at\nour own shortcomings, and at the sad coldness of our own hearts, we may\nthink of Him not only loving us, but rejoicing in His love, admitting us\nto the most sacred confidence, and permitting us with the holy intimacy\nof a reverent affection to pour out our whole heart before Him.  If,\nthen, it were an elevation to Ruth to become the bride of the \u2018mighty man\nof wealth,\u2019 oh, what an honour is it for such as we are to be clothed\nwith the white robe of His spotless righteousness, to be called by His\ngrace into fellowship with Himself, to be loved by Him with an\neverlasting love; and, finally, presented to Him in spotless holiness to\nbe one with Him for ever!  How infinitely higher this is than anything\nenjoyed by Adam before the fall!\n\n(2.) But this was not all, for by the act of redemption Ruth was brought\ninto a special relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  In the\ngenealogy of our blessed Saviour there are only three women mentioned,\none of whom was Ruth.  I have no doubt in my own mind that this narrative\nwas written, and preserved in the canon of Scripture, to prepare the way\nfor that mention of Ruth in the genealogy; for I believe that the great\nobject of the Old Testament is to trace the sacred line that terminated\nin the birth of the promised seed.  The whole history follows that line,\nand all collateral branches are passed by without any special record.  By\nthe act of redemption, Ruth was bought into that sacred or royal line:\nshe became the one woman of her generation that was lineally connected\nwith the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesse, the father of David, was her\ngrandson, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David, was her seed.  She\nwas therefore brought by the act of redemption into union with Him, and\nso are we.  Of course there is a vast difference between the two forms of\nunion.  She was the mother, we the children.  He drew His human life from\nher, we receive our divine life from Him.  In her case it was the tie of\nparentage or motherhood; in ours that of sonship.  He was the promised\nSeed in which all nations of the earth are blessed; and as such He was\nher seed, and our Saviour.  But though there was this marked distinction,\nin both cases redemption led to union; and if it were an honour to Ruth\nto be in the chosen line from which He sprang, is it not indeed an honour\nto such as we are to be admitted amongst the chosen family who are\nblessed in Him?  Remember the words of the Apostle connecting sonship\nwith redemption, Gal. iv. 4: \u2018When the fulness of time was come, God sent\nforth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that\nwere under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.\u2019  The\neffect of redemption therefore is so to identify us with the Son of God\nthat we ourselves in Him become sons.  We are redeemed from the curse and\nmade one with the Son of God, so that we may go in before the God of\nglory, and there cry Abba, Father.  Ye then, who have redemption through\nHis blood, accept your position, and be not afraid of claiming your\nunion.  As Ruth was brought into the same line of parentage, so are you\ninto that of sonship.  Act, therefore, as sons.  Speak to your Father as\nyour Father.  Abide in Him: walk in Him: live in Him: trust in Him:\nundertake nothing independently of Him; and God grant that you may be\npreserved in Him till the great presentation day, when in Him you will be\npresented spotless before His throne!\n\nBut we have not yet done with Ruth.  You see clearly that just as we are\nraised by redemption to a condition infinitely higher than that of Adam\nbefore the fall, so Ruth was raised by redemption to a position\nincomparably higher than that of Elimelech\u2019s family before the famine.\nBut we must look at her own previous condition, for it was far below the\noriginal condition even of Elimelech.  He was one of the seed of Abraham,\na member of the covenant, a proprietor in the promised land.  But she was\na poor heathen girl on the mountains of Moab, an alien from the\ncommonwealth of Israel and a stranger from the covenant of promise.  Yet\nthat poor heathen girl was raised by redemption to a higher position than\nall the Jewesses in the whole family of Elimelech.  Does it not teach us\nthe power of redemption to break down every barrier, to overturn every\nhuman calculation, to clear away every hindrance, and to raise to the\nmost glorious salvation those very persons whose case to man\u2019s eye seems\nhopeless?  Doubtless there were noble women in Bethlehem who would have\nbeen glad enough to have been brought into the sacred line of the\nmotherhood of the Coming One.  But the honour was given through\nredemption to the poor young widow from Moab.  So there may be many\nEnglishmen, familiar with the words of the covenant, and living, as it\nwere, within religious boundaries, but still strangers to real fellowship\nwith God; while others, far away in heathen lands, in India, in Africa,\nin China, are brought in through the power of redeeming blood, and made\nheirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.  So, again, there may be many\namongst us at home who seem as far off as that young woman was when she\nwas growing up an idolater in Moab; but the lesson that we are to learn\nis that there is such a fulness in redemption, such a power, such a\ncompleteness, such an efficacy that that far-distant sinner, even though\nhe has been an idolater; though he can never forgive himself, may be\nforgiven by God; and not forgiven only, but raised by infinite grace even\nto a oneness with the Son of God.  Let no one, therefore, feel hopeless,\nwhatever his position, and whatever his past idolatry; for redeeming\nblood can triumph over everything, and can so blot out all sin that those\nwho are the farthest off of any amongst us may yet be made nigh by the\nblood of Christ, and finally presented spotless before His throne.\n\nBut one word more about Ruth, for if we really desire thus to be made\nnigh, her words to Naomi may serve to illustrate the spirit in which we\nmust come to the Lord Jesus.  If we were to call this a type such an\napplication of them would lead to nothing but confusion.  But looking at\nit simply as a piece of history they may suggest a most important\nillustration.  She said to Naomi, \u2018Whither thou goest, I will go; and\nwhere thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy\nGod my God.\u2019  If you desire to be made to sit in heavenly places in\nChrist Jesus kneel down, and from the bottom of your heart say the same\nto Him.  You may be still far away from God, a stranger in a strange\nland.  But there is He, having come amongst us to fetch you home, to seek\nyou, to save you, to raise you to Himself.  Let there be then the loving\nsurrender of your whole soul into His hand; and let the prayer of your\ninmost heart be, \u2018Whither thou goest, I will go; thy people shall be my\npeople, and thy God my God.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nVI.  THE SPIRIT.\n\n\n    \u2018Into thine hand I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord\n    God of truth.\u2019\u2014Ps. xxxi. 5.\n\nIT is a very happy thing for the Church of God that David\u2019s life was\nchequered by trials, and his character by no means free from fault.  If\nhe had never been in difficulty, we should never have been taught how\ndifficulty drove him to his God; and if he had been a man without sin, we\nshould not have had from him any lessons on repentance as we now have in\nhis penitential psalms.  To his difficulties we are indebted for the 31st\npsalm, and to his sins for the 51st.  For this 31st psalm, \u2018Trust in\ndifficulty\u2019 would be a suitable heading.  It opens with the words, \u2018In\nthee, O Lord, do I put my trust;\u2019 and after referring to many sources of\nanxiety, it concludes with that noble appeal to all believers, \u2018Be of\ngood courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the\nLord.\u2019\n\nBut I am not about to attempt any examination of the whole psalm, but\nsimply to draw your attention to this one sacred verse, and to the spirit\nof confiding trust expressed in it.  In the study of it we will examine,\nfirst, the trust, then the redemption which was the foundation of it.\nMay God teach us so to realise the plenteous fulness of that redemption\nthat we may be always able in confiding faith to exercise the trust!\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  The trust\n\nThis is expressed in the words, \u2018Into thy hand I commit my spirit.\u2019\nThere are few words in the whole word of God, presented to us with more\nsacred authority than these, for they were quoted by our Lord Himself\neven on the cross, and were almost the last words uttered by Him before\nHis death.  We must therefore approach them with a hallowed sense of\nprofound reverence, and remember that the place whereon we stand is holy\nground.\n\nThat use of them by our Blessed Saviour shows that they express the\nconfiding trust of a dying believer, that the trust is a death-bed trust,\nand one especially prepared for that solemn moment when we come to the\nthreshold of eternity, and, leaving all below, are just on the point of\nentering alone into the unseen world.  Let no one think lightly of such a\nmoment, or suppose that because there may be perfect peace there is no\ndeep solemnity in the approaching change.  There is an inexpressible\nsolemnity about it, and it is only the foolhardy man that will ever brave\nit unprepared.  But the words of this text are exactly suited to the\nwell-prepared believer.  He has reached the point when friends can do no\nmore for him.  The faithful wife can accompany him no further; the loving\nchild can no longer minister to his comfort; every human help utterly\nfails; and the dying man is left alone with God.  But his Blessed Father\nis at his right hand, and can reach his soul even when men think he is\nunconscious; so that, even at that moment when to the eye of man there is\nnothing but weakness, confusion, and failure, the trusting heart, in the\ninner secrets of the soul, can lean on the Beloved, and say, \u2018Into thine\nhand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.\u2019\nThis is what our Lord did just as he was dying; this is what Stephen did\nwhen he said, \u2018Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;\u2019 and this is what I hope\neach of us may be able to do when the time of our departure is come, and\nthe curtain which separates earth from heaven is being drawn aside to let\nus pass.\n\nBut I do not think that death is the only occasion on which we may use\nthese words, or that we are to lay them by unused till we require them in\nour dying hour; for, as far as we can gather from the psalm, they are to\nhave a present life-use likewise.  The psalm is not a death-bed psalm,\nbut one composed under difficulties.  Nor did David write it under any\nexpectation that he would be overpowered by these difficulties, for in\nverses 2, 3, and 4, he prays for deliverance; and in verse 8 he expressly\ndeclares, \u2018Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast\nset my feet in a large room.\u2019  We must, therefore, regard these words as\nspoken by one who was in difficulty, and being in difficulty, availed\nhimself of the privilege of committing all his difficulties into his\nFather\u2019s hand.  But you will observe that in this verse he does not speak\nso much of his difficulties as his spirit.  He does not say, \u2018Into thy\nhand I commend my difficulties,\u2019 but \u2018Into thy hand I commend my spirit.\u2019\nHe may in those words have prayed for the preservation of his life, but I\nthink it was rather the preservation of his own spirit, what St. Paul\ndescribes \u2018the spirit of the mind,\u2019 for which he required help.  We all\nknow how the spirit is harassed, and the rest of the soul disturbed, when\nwe are placed in circumstances of perplexity.  At such times we are often\ndistracted in prayer, and are so much occupied by the things that trouble\nus that we are tempted to forget our resting-place.  Hence the importance\nof especial prayer, not merely that difficulties may be overcome, but\nthat our own spirit may be kept unruffled and undisturbed in perfect\npeace reposing on the Lord.  This is just what David did in the psalm.\nHe earnestly prayed that he might be delivered.  \u2018Deliver me in thy\nrighteousness.\u2019  \u2018Deliver me speedily.\u2019  He earnestly sought God\u2019s\nguiding hand, in order that in his own conduct he might do God\u2019s will:\n\u2018For thy name\u2019s sake lead me and guide me.\u2019  And meanwhile he trusted his\nown spirit, his mind, his thoughts, his temper, his whole man into his\nFather\u2019s keeping, and said, \u2018Into thy hand I commit my spirit.\u2019\n\nII.  But now let us turn to that redemption which was the foundation of\nhis trust.  He did not trust without a reason, but said, \u2018Into thy hand I\ncommit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth;\u2019 and we\nhave to consider what he meant by that expression, \u2018Thou hast redeemed\nme.\u2019  In answer to this question, I have no hesitation in expressing my\nfirm conviction that the redemption to which he referred was precisely\nthe same as that on which we ourselves rest, the redemption from the\nguilt of sin wrought out by the Lord Jesus on the cross.  There has never\nbeen any other redemption which could be the foundation of trust either\nin life or in death; and when we find the blessing of the Gospel\nconnected in the Old Testament with redemption, we have no choice but to\nbelieve that the redemption with which they are connected is that great\nredemption by the Lord Jesus on which all our own hopes exclusively\ndepend.  Take, for example, such words as those of David, in Ps. cxxx.\nThe great subject of that psalm is forgiveness: \u2018There is forgiveness\nwith thee, that thou mayest be feared\u2019 (ver. 4); and the reason why\nIsrael is to hope for it is that \u2018with the Lord there is mercy, and with\nhim is plenteous redemption.\u2019  What but the redemption through the\nprecious blood of the Lord Jesus can be described as thus plenteous for\nall who need forgiveness?  The same may be said of those words of God\nHimself in Isa. xliv. 22: \u2018I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy\ntransgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me, for I have\nredeemed thee.\u2019  He cannot refer in those words to any deliverance that\nhad already taken place, for he is only inviting the sinner to return;\nbut he clearly refers to the blotting out of the curse through atoning\nblood, and to the way of life laid open to the returning sinner.  So I\ncannot doubt for a moment that redemption in this verse means exactly the\nsame as in both those passages.  In Isaiah God said, \u2018I have redeemed\nthee;\u2019 and in this verse David said, \u2018Thou hast redeemed me.\u2019  The one\ngives, the other accepts; but they both speak of the same thing, the\nredemption on the cross, the only satisfaction for sin.  Thus our blessed\nLord, when He quoted the words, omitted this latter clause.  He said,\n\u2018Into thine hands I commit my spirit;\u2019 but he did not say, \u2018For thou hast\nredeemed me.\u2019  The reason of this is obvious, for God had not redeemed\nHim, and He Himself was at that very time engaged in completing the\nredemption by His death.  He could not use the words, for they referred\nto that great act of mercy in which at that very time He was engaged.\n\nBut it may be said, If the redemption here spoken of was not to take\nplace for more than a thousand years after the psalm was written, how was\nit that David spoke of it as a completed thing?  Why did he not rather\nsay, \u2018Thou art about to redeem me?\u2019  In answer to that question, two\nreasons may be given, either of which would be quite sufficient to\nexplain his words.\n\n(1.)  The redemption was already complete in the eternal purpose of God.\nRemember those words by St. Peter (1 Pet i. 19, 20): \u2018Ye were redeemed\nwith the precious blood of Christ . . . who verily was fore-ordained\nbefore the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times\nfor you;\u2019 and remember how he is described (Rev. xiii. 8) as \u2018the Lamb\nslain from the foundation of the world.\u2019  Although, therefore, the Son of\nGod has not yet become incarnate, God speaking of His divine purpose\ncould say, \u2018I have redeemed thee;\u2019 and His believing servant, referring\nto that same purpose, could reply, though a thousand years must pass\nbefore he witnessed it, \u2018Thou hast redeemed me.\u2019\n\n(2.)  But it was not purposed only, for it was promised.  It was promised\nto our first parents the very day of their miserable fall, and it was\nkept continually before the eye of God\u2019s people by a series of types and\nprophecies.  Thus David\u2019s language is an illustration of the words,\n\u2018Faith is the substance of things hoped for.\u2019  What God had promised was\nas sure to him as if he held it in his hand; it was as much his own as if\nhe had seen it.  He was as sure of the power of the cross of Christ, as\nif he had been standing by, and had heard the centurion say, \u2018Verily this\nwas the Son of God.\u2019  And is it not apparent from the verse itself that\nthis is the real meaning of his words? for what is the peculiar force of\nthose concluding words \u2018O Lord God of truth?\u2019  Do they not teach us that\nhe was assured of that redemption, not because it had seen it\naccomplished, but because it was made sure by the truth of God?  The\ntruth of God was pledged to the redeeming work and therefore that work\nwas as sure to him as if it were already finished.  He did not,\ntherefore, wait to puzzle his mind about times and seasons; he knew that\nGod was true to His promise, and therefore being assured of His declared\npurpose, he said, \u2018Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.\u2019\n\nBut if this be the case, we are surely brought to the conclusion that,\nwhatever be our position, redeeming grace must be the one foundation of\nbelieving trust.  Patriarchal faith looking forward, and modern Christian\nfaith looking backward, both meet in one point, that point being the\ncross of Christ.  And as for ourselves it matters not what are our\npeculiar circumstances.  We may be actively engaged in the work of life,\ninvolved in its perplexities, and compelled to take a part in its\nstruggles; or we may be at the end of life, expecting in a day or two to\ndepart hence, and be no more: but in either case we must rest simply on\nthe atoning blood, and resting on it, whether it be for life or for\ndeath, we may say in calm, quiet, peaceful, trusting faith, \u2018Into thy\nhand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.\u2019\n\nBut while we trust the perfect work we must not forget the perfect truth,\nfor we are quite as dependent on that truth as David was.  To his mind\nthat had turned a future act into a present reality, and on that same\ntruth we rely in order that the same act, long since completed, may be to\nus a present salvation, and the assurance of it a present power.  We want\neach one to look back to the cross as David looked forward to it, and to\nsay in happy, peaceful, personal trust as he did, \u2018Into thine hand I\ncommit my spirit, for thou hast redeemed me.\u2019  But in order to do this we\nmust not forget the truth.  We cannot rest on the work without the word\nany better than on the word without the work.  It is when both are\ncombined, and both applied by the Holy Ghost to the soul, that we can\nsay, \u2018Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth,\u2019 and resting on\nthose eternal counsels, whether living or dying, may trust Him without a\nfear.\n\nMay we not then, every one of us, learn a lesson of simple trust from\nthese few words in David\u2019s psalm?  It matters not what is our position.\nWhen we are dying men and drawing near to the gateway of eternity we may\ncalmly look up, and trust our soul for all eternity into His hand.  If we\nbe exposed to harassing anxiety, and are anxious about our own temper and\njudgment in difficult circumstances, we may spread our own spirit in\nsimple faith before the throne.  Or if we are undertaking work, and\nendeavouring to be employed for God, feeling the need of wisdom, zeal,\nlove, and power, we may commit it all into His loving care.  Yes,\nwhatever it is that weighs on our mind, death, anxiety, disappointment,\nor duty, we may trust it all, and, whatever it is, may say as St. Paul\ndid, \u2018I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed\nunto him against that day.\u2019  Yes; and He is perfectly sure to keep it\nsafe.\n\nBut there is one little word in the text that I have not noticed, and yet\nit is an essential one to the trust.  Great principles are often found in\nlittle words, and so it is here, for all hangs on that little\nmonosyllable \u2018me.\u2019  If you can only say, \u2018Thou hast redeemed mankind,\u2019\nyour soul will never rest in abiding trust.  Nor will it if you can only\nsay, \u2018Thou hast redeemed thy Church,\u2019 for the safety of the Church does\nnot secure the peace of the individual.  It is only when you can\nreverently look up to the atoning blood, and say, \u2018Thou hast redeemed\n_me_,\u2019 that you will be able in hallowed peace to commit everything into\nHis loving hand.  When you can say with deep thanksgiving, \u2018In whom _I_\nhave redemption through his blood,\u2019 you may then without the shadow of a\ndoubt commit your body, your soul, your spirit, your will, your thoughts,\nyour work, and all you care for, into His loving hand.\n\n\n\n\nVII.  ANATHOTH.\n\n\n    \u2018Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto\n    thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of\n    redemption is thine to buy it.\u2019\u2014JER. xxxii. 7.\n\nTHE Old and New Testaments are so linked together that they cannot well\nbe separated.  The Old is the foundation of the New; the New is the\nhead-stone of the Old; and the same great principles run through them\nboth.  Thus faith in the Old Testament is the same in principle as faith\nin the New; and by studying the faith of the ancient patriarchs and\nprophets we may learn most important lessons respecting that of the\nmodern believer.  In different ages and different persons faith may\ndiffer in its object and in its form; but it is always the same in\nprinciple, and always involves the fixed assurance that what God has\npromised He is able and certain to perform.  This is very clearly seen in\nthe deeply important lesson of practical faith conveyed to us in this\nhistory of Jeremiah.  The events described in the chapter took place\nduring the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.  Zedekiah was then king,\nand was struggling to the utmost of his power against the powerful enemy\nthat was come up against him.  In the midst of the siege the Prophet\nJeremiah was employed to convey a most discouraging prophecy, for, as you\nread verse 3, Jeremiah said, \u2018Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give\nthis city unto the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.\u2019\nOf course such a prophecy was calculated to dishearten the defenders of\nthe city.  So, though it was the word of the Lord, Zedekiah arrested the\nprophet and shut him up in the court of the prison.  Jeremiah, therefore,\nwas in a position of great distress, the city was besieged, and he knew\nfrom his own prophecy that it would be taken; while he himself was a\nprisoner at the mercy of a bad and arbitrary king.\n\nBut while he was there alone in his prison the word of the Lord came to\nhim saying that his first cousin, by name Hanameel, would come unto him\nand say, \u2018Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of\nredemption is thine to buy it.\u2019  You will remember that we found the\nnearest of kin had the right of redemption, and evidently Jeremiah stood\nin that position to his cousin.  As famine and pestilence were raging in\nthe city (see ver. 24), it is easy to understand why Hanameel was\ncompelled to sell.  But he could not sell to any one, for the right of\nredemption belonged to Jeremiah.  The prophet, therefore, was warned by\nthe Lord that Hanameel was coming to him with this object; and\naccordingly he very soon appeared as was foretold, and said, \u2018Buy my\nfield I pray thee that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of\nBenjamin: for the right of redemption is thine; buy it for thyself,\u2019 ver.\n8.  You must not fail to notice the confirmation of his faith through\nthis fulfilment of the prophecy, for when Hanameel came to him he said,\n\u2018Then knew I that this was the word of the Lord.\u2019  Till then he was\nprobably not quite satisfied, but when his cousin came as it had been\nforetold, then he knew it was of God.  Let us learn a lesson for\nourselves.  There were many prophecies of a coming Saviour scattered\nthroughout the four thousand years that preceded His birth, and I can\nperfectly understand the difficulty of faith in those who did not see\nthose prophecies realised; but now that the Promised One has come\naccording to His promise, and the great prediction has been fulfilled,\nthe least that we can say is, \u2018Now we know that this was the word of the\nLord.\u2019\n\nBut to return to Jeremiah.  Being convinced that the whole thing was of\nGod, he proceeded at once to redeem the field.  He took care that the\ndeeds were properly drawn, signed, sealed, and witnessed.  And when the\nmoney, seventeen shekels of silver, was paid, and the conveyance\ncomplete, he trusted the deeds to Baruch, his faithful friend, and\ncharged him to deposit them safely in an earthen vessel.  His words were,\n\u2018Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is\nsealed, and this evidence which is open, and put them in an earthen\nvessel that they may continue many days.\u2019  You will observe that last\nclause, \u2018that they may continue many days.\u2019  He seemed quite sure that it\nwould be a long time before they would be wanted.\n\nThus the transaction was complete, and the land redeemed; but not so\nJeremiah\u2019s part respecting it, for when he had delivered the evidence of\npurchase unto Baruch, his next act was to kneel down in prayer.  He says,\nver. 16, \u2018I prayed unto the Lord.\u2019  I have not time now to study either\nhis prayer or God\u2019s answer to it; I would only remark in passing what a\nblessed thing it is when all that we do is of such a character that we\ncan pray about it before God.  It would wonderfully alter the character\nof commercial life if every bargain could be spread in prayer before God,\nand if every contract were of such a nature that as soon as it was\ncomplete we could kneel down and ask God\u2019s blessing on it.  I am inclined\nto think that this principle would knock off a great many of the hard\nbargains made in life.  It would certainly prevent all cases of fraud and\nadulteration, and put a stop at once to the whole principle of the\nnon-payment of lawful debts.  Jeremiah, when he would redeem the land,\nfirst paid the money, and then knelt down to pray.\n\nBut that is not the point to be particularly noticed in the passage, for\nwe must rather study the mind of Jeremiah, and consider on what principle\nhe redeemed the field.  Why was it that, when he knew the city was about\nto be taken, and everything within it was already at famine prices, he\napparently threw away these seventeen shekels in the purchase of a field\nwhich to all appearance he was never likely to possess?  He knew\nperfectly well that at the time he purchased it it could be of no use\nwhatever.  It is believed to have been about three miles north of\nJerusalem, and was probably at that very time trampled down by the\nbesieging host, and he knew equally well that till after the restoration\nof the Jews he was not likely to attain possession.  The city was\ninvested by the Chaldeans, and there was not the smallest hope of a\nsuccessful resistance; why then at such a time should he spend money in\nthe redemption of the field?  I believe that there were three principles\non which he acted,\u2014obedience, faith, and confidence in the law of\nredemption, and that he was called to do what he did in order to teach\nthese principles to his besieged fellow-countrymen.\n\n(1.)  There was clearly obedience, simple obedience in direct opposition\nto human calculation.  You may see this very clearly in the concluding\nwords of his prayer.  It is clear from ver. 24 that all human calculation\nwas against him, and he knew it to be so, for he said, \u2018Behold the\nmounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given\ninto the hand of the Chaldeans that fight against it, because of the\nsword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what thou hast\nspoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.\u2019  But the Lord had\ncommanded him to buy the field, for he adds, ver. 25, \u2018And thou hast said\nunto me, O Lord God, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses:\nfor\u2019 (or rather \u2018though,\u2019 according to the margin) \u2018the city is given\ninto the hands of the Chaldeans.\u2019  God told him to buy it, _though_ the\ncity was given up to the Chaldeans.  He was not, therefore, to be guided\nby what he saw, but by what he knew to be the will of God.  If he were to\nlose all his money, and never come into possession of the field, it was\nhis clear duty to obey.  And so it is ours, when once we are convinced of\nthe will of God.\n\n(2.)  But as believers in the Lord Jesus we are not called to obey\nwithout hope, for where there is no hope you will never find power.  The\nChristian\u2019s obedience, therefore, is full of hope, because it is all\nfounded on faith, and so was the obedience of Jeremiah.  He acted in\nfaith, firmly trusting the promises of God.  You see this very clearly in\nhis words to Baruch when he handed him the deeds, as recorded ver. 15:\n\u2018For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Houses and fields\nand vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.\u2019  He looked,\ntherefore, beyond the present distress, and, more than that, beyond what\nI may term the first future.  He foresaw the overthrow, but he looked\nbeyond it to the recovery.  He himself predicted desolation, but he was\nso sure of the restoration that on the strength of that assurance he\nredeemed the land.  Though he saw the army of the Chaldeans around the\ncity, though he was at that very time in prison for prophesying, \u2018Thus\nsaith the Lord, Behold I will give this city into the hand of the king of\nBabylon, and he shall take it,\u2019 yet he was so sure of the truth of God\u2019s\npromise to restore it, that he acted on the promise, and purchased the\nproperty.  He looked beyond the captivity to the recovery, and\nconfidently acted on God\u2019s promise.  That he fully realised the\ndifficulty is clear from the words of his prayer, in which he said, ver.\n17, \u2018There is nothing too hard for thee,\u2019 and from God\u2019s reply to these\nwords in ver. 27, \u2018Is there anything too hard for me?\u2019  But he was, like\nAbraham, fully persuaded that what God had promised \u2018He was able also to\nperform,\u2019 and therefore he acted on the promise? and paid down his money\nin the certainty that God would fulfil His word.  Dear brethren, is there\nnot a noble lesson here for all of us?  Are we not all taught, not merely\nto believe, but to act on our belief?  We may see difficulties thickening\naround us; we may even see prophecies of sore trial in the latter days.\nBut we know that our God shall trample down Satan under our feet shortly.\nWe are to trust Him, therefore, and act on our trust.  We see things\ndecaying around us; we look at our own frail bodies, and believe that\nthey will soon be laid lifeless in the grave.  We see death cutting down\nour dearest friends, and we know that, if the Lord does not come first,\nit will soon cut us down too.  But we look beyond to a resurrection, to\nthe certain promise that we shall rise again; and therefore now we must\nlive and act as those who are sure of the resurrection life.  To adopt\nthe figure of the narrative, we must purchase the field with a view to\nthe restoration.  There may be dark days and sore trials before the time\nof possession; but it is certain to come at last.  As Daniel said, \u2018The\nthing is true though the time appointed is long.\u2019  So we know the premise\nis true, though the time of waiting may be long; and we must spend our\nwhole life, and lay out all our powers, with the one fixed object of a\ncertainty of possession when the dead shall arise, and the Lord shall\ntake the kingdom.\n\n(3.)  But besides faith in the promise of God there was also confidence\nin the validity of the act of redemption.  There was no doubt about the\nsoundness of his title.  The whole transaction was according to law.\nHanameel had a legal right to sell, Jeremiah a legal right to redeem, and\nthe conveyance was legally completed.  All was done that was required by\nthe law of transfer, and when those deeds were carefully deposited in the\nearthen vessel, there to continue for many days, Jeremiah clearly\nconsidered that whenever the time of restoration should come, the deeds\nwould be recognised as valid, and his title as sufficient.  He regarded\nthe act of redemption as sufficient security whenever God should restore\nthe land to Israel.  And now, dear brethren, have we not all a\nmagnificent lesson to learn from his example?  We are looking forward to\nthe times of restoration: we expect to rise again; we fully believe that\nthe Lord Jesus Christ will come bringing His saints with Him, and, like\nJeremiah, we depend on the finished act of redemption, as our own title\nto a share in the coming inheritance.  Now look at that great act of\nredemption.  There was no flaw in any part of it, for the whole law was\nfulfilled.  The full price was paid, for we may adapt the words of the\nprophet, \u2018She hath received of the Lord\u2019s hand double for all her sins.\u2019\nThe redemption price was not seventeen shekels of silver; but the most\nprecious blood of the Son of God.  The Redeemer is not a mere man, a\nprisoner in the dungeon of the king; but the Son of God already risen\nfrom the dead, and already seated at the right hand of the throne.  And\nthe deeds are not deposited in any earthen vessel, or trusted to the care\nof such a man as Baruch; but they are treasured up in heaven itself, kept\nsafe in the eternal counsels of Jehovah.  And now follows the question,\nwas that redemption by the Son of God sufficient?  And are these\ntitle-deeds secure?  If Jeremiah could trust to those sealed documents in\nthe earthen vessel under Baruch\u2019s care, may we not trust to the full\nsatisfaction made through redeeming blood, and the perfect security of\nthe covenant of God as sealed, ratified, and preserved by Jesus Christ\nHimself?  Of course when persons have no interest in that redemption,\nwhen they have no part in that redeeming work, we cannot then say that\ntheir title is secure, for, poor people! they have neither title nor\ninheritance; they have no hope in the restoration as they are without God\nin the present.  Oh! that I knew how to persuade such persons never to\nrest till they have their title-deeds to a heavenly inheritance.  But I\nam not speaking of them.  I am speaking rather of the redeemed believer,\nwhose \u2018life is hid with Christ in God;\u2019 and I want to persuade all\nparties, both those that do, and those that do not, possess the\ntitle-deeds, to consider well the unspeakable blessedness of having the\ntitle safely deposited with the Son of God, so that, whatever happens,\nwhatever success or discouragement, whether joy or trial, whether life or\ndeath, we may be perfectly sure that all is safe, for the redemption has\nbeen completed by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and the title-deeds are\nsafe, being laid up in the treasury of God.\n\n\n\n\nVIII.  THE PIT.\n\n\n    \u2018O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed\n    my life.\u2019\u2014LAM. iii. 58.\n\nWe studied in the last lecture the remarkable faith of Jeremiah.  We\nfound how he redeemed the field in Anathoth at the very time that\nJerusalem was invested by the Chaldeans, and he himself was predicting\nthe certainty of its destruction: but in that moment of hopelessness he\nhad such entire trust in the promise of restoration, and such assurance\nin the validity of the title, that he purchased the field as readily as\nhe would have done had everything been at the height of prosperity.  We\nsaw in such conduct the practical acting of faith.  But it is very\ninteresting also to look at the hidden life of faith, and to know, while\nhe was thus acting, what was secretly passing in his soul.  I think that\nthis passage may throw great light on the subject.  From ver. 55 it is\nclear that he referred to a time when he was in the low dungeon: \u2018I\ncalled upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.\u2019  We are not\ninformed to which imprisonment he referred.  It may have been the\nimprisonment in the courts of the prison which was in the court of the\nking\u2019s house, during which he redeemed the land of Hanameel, or it may\nhave been the much more severe imprisonment which subsequently followed,\nas described Jer. xxxviii. 6, when they let him down by ropes into a\ndeep, damp pit, called the dungeon of Malchiah.  The expression \u2018the low\ndungeon,\u2019 seems rather to describe this latter captivity, and we may\npicture to ourselves God\u2019s faithful servant left alone in a deep, dark\npit, standing up to his waist in the mire, without a comfort, without a\nfriend, and without even a fellow-prisoner to share his trouble.  His\ntitle-deeds to the field in Anathoth would not do much to help him there.\nBut he was a man of trust, and afterwards, when he was still in sore\ntrouble, and deeply grieved at the ruin of the city, he could look back\non that time and say, \u2018Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul, thou hast\nredeemed my life.\u2019\n\nLet us study then this remarkable record of his intercourse with God\nduring this time of his deep trouble.  There was nothing done.  It was\nnot a time for doing.  He could not climb out, he could only stand and\nwait.  What then was passing in his soul?  What transactions took place\nbetween him and God?  To these questions I think this passage supplies an\nanswer.  There are three things that seem perfectly clear.\n\n(1.)  He called on the name of the Lord.  Perhaps he remembered the words\nof Psalm xxxiv.: \u2018This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved\nhim out of all his troubles.\u2019  At all events he acted on them, and though\nin all probability he could not kneel because of the mire, yet he could\npray, and so he did.  But he was not like many people who live prayerless\nlives, and only begin to pray when they get into trouble, for prayer was\nno new thing to him.  He was no stranger at the throne of grace, and he\ncould look back on many happy occasions in which he had reason to be\nquite sure God had answered him.  It is a terrible thing when men go on,\nstrangers to prayer, till they are driven to it by calamity.  It was not\nso with Jeremiah.  He knew the mercy-seat well, and he was well known\nthere.  He could refer to answers in former times, and say, \u2018Thou hast\nheard my voice,\u2019 and so appeal to God in his present trouble and say,\n\u2018Hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.\u2019  There was both a\nbreathing and a cry; the cry being the actual expression of his wants in\nwords, and the breathing, the outpouring of his soul in mental\nintercourse with a God who knew his thoughts.  It is well to remember\nthis distinction between the breathing and the prayer.  The prayer is not\naltogether unlike the food at stated seasons.  The breathing is the\nunceasing communion of soul as essential to life as breath is to the\nbody.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n(2.) And now mark, in the second place, how God treated him.  The King of\nKings was not ashamed of being the companion of the prisoner in the pit.\nIt was a deep, dark dungeon; but the man of God was not alone there.  The\nstone on the top could not shut out God, as it could not shut in prayer.\nAnd you will observe the prophet was not required to climb out of the pit\nto find the Lord, as so many people are continually trying to do, but the\nLord drew nigh to him when he was at the bottom, not when he was at the\ntop, or half-way up; but at the bottom, in the mire, and in the dark.  It\nwas there that God drew near to him in the day that he called, and most\ngraciously spoke to his soul, and said, \u2018Fear not.\u2019  How often, how\nmercifully have these words been spoken!  I believe they occur more than\nfifty times in Scripture.  How often do we meet with such words as \u2018Fear\nnot, Abraham.\u2019  \u2018Fear not, thou worm Jacob.\u2019  \u2018Fear not, Daniel.\u2019  \u2018Fear\nnot, Zacharias.\u2019  \u2018Fear not, little flock.\u2019  \u2018Fear not, Paul.\u2019  \u2018Fear\nnot, I am the first and the last!\u2019  Do not all these passages show that\nthere is reason for fear in outward life, and that there is the element\nof fear in the human heart, but there may be a victory over fear even in\nthe bottom of the pit, when the Lord Himself draws nigh, and says, \u2018Fear\nnot.\u2019  But you may say you cannot hear the words, and, no doubt, in that\nyou are correct, for we are not to expect loud voices from heaven.  We\nhave not the least reason to believe that Jeremiah heard a voice.  When\nDavid prayed, \u2018Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation,\u2019 he did not mean\nthat these words should be spoken audibly to his ear.  But he did mean\nthat the assurance of God\u2019s salvation should be applied by the Holy\nSpirit to his heart.  And so when God drew near to Jeremiah and said,\n\u2018Fear not,\u2019 we are not to understand that His person was visible to the\neye, or the sound of His voice perceptible to the ear.  But we are to\nunderstand that He so spoke to his heart as to assure him of His\nnearness, and to still his fears.  And so it is with us.  We do not look\nfor anything perceptible by outward sense, but we do look for a rest from\nfear in the heart through the divine application of the Lord\u2019s grace and\nvery present help to the soul.\n\n(3.)  And now consider, thirdly, the practical result in Jeremiah\u2019s\nattitude of mind.  He could look calmly up to Him who had drawn nigh unto\nHim, and say, \u2018O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul, thou hast\nredeemed my life.\u2019  It is difficult to determine exactly whether this was\nhis language in the low dungeon, or after he was taken out of it.  We\nread in Jer. xxxviii., that Ebed-melech, one of the king\u2019s eunuchs,\nobtained permission to draw him up out of the dungeon, and he was\nsubsequently confined in the court of the prison.  As I have frequently\npointed out, the word redemption sometimes stands simply for deliverance,\nand it is possible that it may do so here, and refer to the deliverance\nby Ebed-melech.  But I do not think it does, for the latter part of the\nchapter seems clearly to teach that when Jeremiah wrote these words he\nwas not yet delivered, but was still enduring the bitter hostility of his\nrevengeful enemies.  I am, therefore, rather disposed to regard these\nwords as the utterance of a trusting heart when he was still in the low\ndungeon.  I look on them, not as the effect of Ebed-melech pulling him\nout, but of God drawing near to him when he was in it, and saying to his\nsoul, \u2018Fear not.\u2019  I think the passage is faith\u2019s reply to God\u2019s address.\nGod drew near, and said, \u2018Fear not,\u2019 and faith accepted it at once,\nthough still in the pit, and said, \u2018Thou hast pleaded the causes of my\nsoul, thou hast redeemed my life.\u2019  The language seems to lead us far\nbeyond anything done by Ebed-melech, to a divine redemption, and a divine\npleading of his cause.  They remind us of those other words of Jeremiah,\n\u2018Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name; he shall\nthoroughly plead their cause;\u2019 Jer. L. 34; and I cannot help thinking\nthat Jeremiah looked forward, as David did, to the great redemption by\nthe Lord Jesus, as purposed from eternity, and promised in the sure word\nof God.  As David said, \u2018Thou hast redeemed me;\u2019 so he said, \u2018Thou hast\nredeemed my life.\u2019  It was the Redeemer Himself that drew near to him in\nhis low estate, and as it were said unto his soul, \u2018I am thy salvation.\u2019\nThe promised work was not yet accomplished, but it was brought home to\nhis heart, and, though the stone was still on the mouth of the dungeon,\nhis soul was free, and his life was safe, for he was redeemed in the\ncoming Christ.\n\nIf this be the meaning of the passage, does it not teach us that\nredeeming grace must always be our great help in trouble?  If we are\nbrought to the bottom of the pit, by sorrow, by sickness, by calamity, by\nthe approach of death, or by the deep and painful sense of sin, all true\nsource of strength must ever be in the great work of redemption wrought\nout for us by the Son of God.  It is that which opens the way to the\nthrone, and which enables us to rest in the assurance of the love of God.\nYou may find many difficulties in the way of faith, and many drawbacks\nunder the profound sense of your own unworthiness.  But it is wonderful\nto find how they disappear before the cross of Christ; and if only you\nare enabled to say, \u2018Thou hast redeemed my life,\u2019 you will find in that\none fact, a blessed, holy, peaceful resting-place, even though by outward\ncircumstances or inward trial you may still be at the bottom of the pit.\n\nBut whatever view we take of the expression, \u2018Thou hast redeemed my\nlife,\u2019 one thing is perfectly clear, that the redemption was applied to\nJeremiah\u2019s soul at the bottom of the pit.  If it is to be explained of\ndeliverance it was when he was sunk into the mire at the bottom of the\nlow dungeon that the deliverance was applied.  And if it describes the\napplication to his soul of the Lord\u2019s redemption, and his acceptance of\nit as something already as sure as if it were perfected, it was when he\nwas bowed down in the very depths of trouble that the blessed work was\nbrought home with peace to his soul.  Whatever meaning you give to the\nword \u2018redemption\u2019 in this passage, redemption was brought home to him at\nthe bottom of the pit.\n\nNow I cannot imagine a more important principle than this for all those\nwho really desire to partake of all the blessings of redemption.  Of\ncourse there are some who do not trouble their minds about it, being\nsatisfied with their own religious respectability; but there are\nmultitudes deeply concerned about it.  They earnestly desire to be able\nto say, \u2018Thou hast redeemed my life,\u2019 but they cannot do so; and yet\npossibly they have been really taking pains to do so for many years,\nalthough without the least sign of progress.  Now may not their\ndifficulties arise in many cases from their having reversed the order of\nthe dealings of God?  They have hoped to climb up partially out of the\npit, and to reach redemption at the top, instead of accepting it as a\nfree gift of God while they are still helpless at the bottom.  In other\nwords, they are endeavouring first to remove their difficulties, and then\nto trust redemption.  No wonder then that they completely fail! for how\nare they to climb up out of the pit? and how are they to overcome their\ndifficulties while they are still at a distance from redeeming grace?  It\nis redemption that is to deliver, redemption that is to raise us from the\ndead, redemption that removes the difficulty, how then can we ever hope\nto rise until redemption is applied and realised?  If redemption is not\nsufficient to reach down to one in a state of utter hopelessness, it is\ninsufficient for the conscience-stricken sinner.  Remember, therefore,\nthe case of Jeremiah.  Consider his case as an illustration of your own,\nand if you are yourself at the bottom of what I may term the religious\npit, in a low dungeon from which you cannot rise, remember how the Lord\ndrew near to him when he was at the bottom, and did not wait till he had\nclimbed even half-way to reach His hand.  Just so it must be with you.\nHe must stoop to reach you before you can rise to reach Him.  Your first\nact of faith must be when you are at the bottom.  It will be there, and\nnot at the top, or half-way up, that for the first time you will realise\na finished redemption.  If ever you have the unspeakable joy of saying in\nall the happiness of personal appropriation, \u2018Thou hast pleaded the\ncauses of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life,\u2019 you will have to do so\nbefore you have risen above your present level.  Do not therefore wait to\nmake some poor, feeble, ineffective effort to rise; but as you are in the\nmidst of your discouragements, though the stone still seems to stop the\nmouth of the low dungeon, trust at once with a bold act of fearless\nfaith, and without waiting to deserve it, act at once on His own\ninvitation, \u2018Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.\u2019\n\nBut as for those amongst you that have been brought up out of the pit,\nwhat should be the language of your thankful heart?  You have not only\nseen the great redemption finished, but you have experienced its\napplication.  You have not merely been taught to trust Him in the bottom\nof the low dungeon, but you can say as David did, \u2018He brought me up also\nout of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a\nrock, and established my goings.\u2019  Ps. xl. 2.  If so, will you not go on\nand add, \u2018He hath put a new song in my mouth, even thanksgiving unto our\nGod?\u2019  Will you not join heart and soul in the language of our Communion\nService, \u2018We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify\nthee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly\nKing, God the Father Almighty?\u2019\n\n\n\n\nIX.  ATONEMENT.\n\n\n    \u2018Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a\n    curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on\n    a tree.\u2019\u2014GAL. iii. 13.\n\nIN tracing the doctrine of redemption through the types and illustrative\nnarratives of the Old Testament, we found that redemption always includes\ntwo ideas\u2014deliverance and ransom\u2014and that in some cases, as _e.g._, in\nthe redemption from Egypt, the deliverance is the more prominent of the\ntwo.  I cannot help thinking that in this respect there is a difference\nbetween the Old Testament and the New.  In the New, as well as the Old,\nthe two ideas are always found, and the deliverance is always included;\nbut the writers of the New Testament appear to have had their minds so\nfull of the marvellous love that was shown on the cross of Christ, that\nthe ransom, and the ransom price, appear in many passages to have been\nthe prominent subjects of their thoughts.  Hence it follows that in a\ngreat many religious books, and even in our Church Catechism, redemption\nis confounded with the atonement, and people lose sight of the fact that\nit includes the consequences of the atonement as well as the atonement\nitself, the release of the captive as well as the payment of the ransom;\nthe actual salvation of the chosen people of God, as well as the\nsatisfaction of the law by the substitution of the Son of God for man.\nIn order, therefore, to get a clear view of the whole subject, we must\nconsider the two parts separately; first, the ransom, satisfaction, or\natonement, and after that the deliverance that follows.  May it please\nGod in His mercy to give us the sacred teaching of the Holy Spirit, and\nto lead us into the full realisation of the marvellous wonders of His\nredeeming love!\n\nWe must clearly begin with the great subject of the satisfaction for sin,\nand the deliverance from the curse, which was the immediate and first\nresult of it.  For this purpose we cannot have a finer passage than the\ntext.  It leads us straight to the root of the matter, and will suggest\nfour most important subjects\u2014the Redeemer Himself, the curse from which\nHe has redeemed us, the act by which He redeemed us, and the persons whom\nHe has redeemed.  These, if God permit, we must consider in order.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  The Redeemer Himself.\n\nIt is perfectly clear that unless we know Him, we shall never understand\nHis work.  If there is confusion respecting Him, there will be confusion\nrespecting all that He has done; so if we wish to enjoy the salvation, we\nmust begin with the Saviour.\n\nNow in this passage He is described as \u2018Christ.\u2019  This is the name\ncontinually given Him throughout this Epistle.  I know of only one\ninstance in the whole Epistle in which the name \u2018Jesus\u2019 occurs, without\nhaving either \u2018Christ,\u2019 or \u2018The Christ,\u2019 attached to it.  The reason most\nprobably was, that St. Paul was writing to Jewish believers, and so made\nuse of the name by which the expected Redeemer was predicted in Jewish\nprophecy.  There are, therefore, certain great lessons to be gathered\nfrom the name.\n\n(1.)  He was the predicted Redeemer.  It was by this name that Daniel\nforetold His advent and death; for in Dan. ix. 25, 26, He is predicted as\n\u2018Messiah the Prince;\u2019 and it was under this name that the believing Jews\nwere expecting Him, for Andrew said to his brother, John, i. 41, \u2018We have\nfound the Messias, which is being interpreted the Christ.\u2019\n\n(2.)  Then again He was the anointed Redeemer.  The meaning of the word\nMessias, or Christ, is anointed, so that the title, \u2018The Christ,\u2019 means\n\u2018The Anointed One;\u2019 and the words of the text might be rendered, \u2018The\nanointed One has redeemed us.\u2019  Now consider for one moment what was\ninvolved in this title.  It conveys the assurance of the eternal purpose\nof God, and of His divine appointment of the Lord Jesus to the office.\nWe all know that the anointing was the act of consecration to the sacred\noffices of Prophet, Priest, and King; and we can see at a glance why\nChrist was anointed, when set apart to fill an office which comprehended\nall the three\u2014the prophetic, the priestly, and the royal.  His great\nredeeming act, therefore, was not merely the result of His own mind and\nHis own benevolence, but it was the sacred work unto which He was\nanointed by the Father.  It was accepted by Himself, and laid upon Him by\nGod.  In undertaking it He had the support of divine authority, and\nbefore He undertook the office He was solemnly set apart to it by God.\n\n(3.)  But there are still further lessons taught us by this title\n\u2018Christ,\u2019 for we are taught in the Old Testament the Anointed One was in\nall respects qualified for the redeeming work, inasmuch as He was one of\nus, and at the same time was God.  Turn to one passage, viz. Ps. xlv. 7.\nThere we learn that He was a kinsman, and therefore qualified according\nto the law to redeem, for the words are, \u2018Thy God hath anointed thee\nabove _thy fellows_;\u2019 while at the same time the sixth verse teaches that\nthe Anointed One is no other than God Himself, for He is addressed in the\nwords, \u2018Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.\u2019\n\nSuch, then, is our Redeemer.  He was predicted from the first day of\nman\u2019s fall; foretold by the whole line of prophets; expected by the whole\nline of believers; set apart to His work in God\u2019s eternal purpose;\nanointed by God; and so, before men and angels, solemnly consecrated to\nthe sacred work which He was willing in the Father\u2019s name to undertake;\nand besides all that, he is perfect both in manhood and Godhead, so that\nin His own double nature He is one with us as a kinsman, while He is one\nwith the Father in the omnipotence of Jehovah.  Such is our Redeemer\u2014can\nHe fail?  Such is our Saviour\u2014can there be disappointment in trusting\nHim?  Such is the Lord\u2019s Anointed One, and whatever be the deep wants of\nour fallen hearts, can we believe for one moment that He is insufficient\nto meet the need?  Can there be any doubt respecting the statement of the\nPsalmist, \u2018With the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous\nredemption?\u2019 (Ps. cxxx. 7.)\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nII.  We may proceed, then, to consider the curse from which He has\nredeemed us.  According to the text it is the curse of the law, the curse\ndescribed in verse 10, where we read, \u2018As many as are of the works of the\nlaw are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that\ncontinueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to\ndo them.\u2019  It is most important to bear this well in mind, for the word\n\u2018curse\u2019 is so connected in common conversation with that which is\nvindictive and merciless that there is danger of our losing sight of the\nfact that the curse of God is the calm, deliberate, and even merciful\nresult of the just judgment of a merciful God.  There is no cruelty in\nthe maintenance of a righteous law, for the maintenance of law is\nessential to the happiness of a people.  Thus the strict execution of law\nis consistent with the most true and tender affection..  David, as the\nking, was compelled, in the maintenance of law, to banish Absalom after\nthe murder of Ammon; but all the while David loved him, and his \u2018soul\nlonged to go forth unto Absalom.\u2019  So we have heard of judges moved to\ntears of tender pity while passing sentence on some unhappy criminal whom\nthe law compelled them to condemn.  In such a case there was no cruelty\nin the law, nor any want of mercy in the judge.  The sentence on the\nsinner was the necessary and righteous condemnation of the sin.\nParliament was not cruel when it passed the law; the jury was not cruel\nwhen it found the culprit guilty; the judge was not cruel when he\ncondemned the criminal to death; and the Queen was not cruel when she\nsigned the warrant for the execution.  Whatever was done by any one of\nthe parties concerned was done simply because the maintenance of law is\nessential to the preservation of life and order throughout the land.\nJust so it is with the curse of the law in the government of God.  There\nis no cruelty in God\u2019s law, or God\u2019s execution of its sentence.  The\nlaw\u2014it is holy, just, and good; a perfect law, without a fault.  And the\nJudge\u2014He is holy, just, pure, spotless, and merciful.  He willeth not the\ndeath of a sinner, and has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth;\nand the curse is not the result of anything vindictive or unmerciful in\nHim.  It is just like David\u2019s sentence on Absalom, rendered necessary by\nthe claims of a righteous government, and the necessity of maintaining\nlaw.\n\nBut, though the sentence is passed in what I may term \u2018loving\nrighteousness,\u2019 there is something inexpressibly awful in it.  Indeed it\nis all the more awful when regarded as the righteous sentence of a God\nwho loves us.  The fact that the sentence is passed, notwithstanding such\nlove, is itself a proof of its awful importance, and the clearest\npossible evidence that a righteous God cannot clear the guilty, and\ncannot set aside the law which He has given to His people.  We must\nconclude, therefore, that the curse is certain, and that it cannot be set\naside by anything that we can do.  We have no power to deliver ourselves\nfrom the awful curse of the law of God.  It is a judgment far more\ncertain, and far more awful, than that of the wretched criminal in the\ncondemned cell waiting for execution.  It is more awful, for it cuts us\noff from God Himself.  It hides His countenance; it separates from His\nlove, and it reaches right away into eternity.  Such is the curse of the\nlaw, the curse that foolish sinners trifle with, the curse that ungodly\nmen bandy about in foul oaths.  It is a just curse\u2014a curse inflicted\naccording to law; a curse pronounced by one who loves the culprit; a\ncurse that could not be set aside unless the Lawgiver were to neutralise\nHis law, and the righteous King abandon the holy principles of His\nkingdom.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nIII.  So we now turn to the third point,\u2014the redemption price, or the\ngreat act by which He has redeemed us.  Now, you will observe that with\nreference to this great subject there are no illustrations employed in\nthe text.  There is nothing said about a ransom, or an offering, or any\nother illustration; but we are brought at once to the great fact of the\nsubstitution of the Redeemer for the redeemed: \u2018He hath redeemed us from\nthe curse, being made a curse for us.\u2019  I know of no way of explaining\nthat passage, except by the doctrine of substitution.  The passage is\nexactly like those other words of the Apostle Paul, 2 Cor. v. 21: \u2018He\nhath made him who knew no sin to be sin for us.\u2019  In the one passage the\nLord Jesus is said to be made a curse, and in the other to be made sin;\nand in both it is said to have been done \u2018for us\u2019 (\u1f51\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1 \u1f21\u03bc\u1ff6\u03bd), _i.e._ on\nour behalf, or in our stead.  Now do not suppose that I do not recognise\nthe depth of mystery involved in this most wonderful truth.  I can\nsympathise with those that scarcely know how to grasp it.  I know there\nis a depth about it beyond the limits of human thought; but there are two\nconsiderations that have always satisfied my own mind.\n\n(1.)  It is not likely that the limited mind of a short-sighted man\nshould be able to fathom the eternal counsels of God, and reduce the\ndivine purpose within the compass of his own intellect.  If we once admit\nthat the plan of salvation is divine, we must be prepared to meet with\nmany things far beyond all human thought.  So it is in this instance.\nThe substitution of the spotless Redeemer for the guilty sinner has in it\na breadth, and length, and depth, and height, that is utterly beyond all\nhuman capacity, and to the very last will pass all knowledge.\n\n(2.)  We can see the fact throughout the history.  Is there any other way\nof explaining either the agony in the garden, or the cry on the cross?\nAgain and again do we see happy believers stepping down into the valley\nof the shadow of death in perfect peace, with a holy joy filling their\nhearts, and a holy calm lighting up their countenance; but the Lord\nJesus, when He looked forward to it, was in agony.  He sweat, as it were,\ngreat drops of blood, and He cried, \u2018If it be possible, let this cup pass\nfrom me.\u2019  I confess I know no way of explaining the difference, except\nby the principle of substitution, as laid down in this passage, \u2018Being\nmade a curse for us.\u2019\n\nSo, again, I never met with any other explanation of that most marvellous\ncry which He uttered on the cross, when He exclaimed, \u2018My God, my God,\nwhy hast thou forsaken me?\u2019  How can that cry be explained except by the\ndoctrine of substitution?  Contrast the dying prayer of Stephen with the\ndying cry of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Stephen said, as I trust you and I\nmay be able to say, \u2018Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,\u2019 and so in perfect\npeace he fell asleep.  But the Lord Jesus was forsaken of God, and so\nuttered that bitter cry.  How can we explain the difference?  How can we\nunderstand the marvellous contrast?  I never could see any explanation\nbut one, and that is, in the doctrine of substitution.  The Lord Jesus\nwas made a curse in the place of Stephen, so Stephen was free.  The sin\nof Stephen was imputed to the Son of God, and the righteousness of the\nSon of God was imputed to Stephen; so the Lord Jesus cried under the\nburden of the curse, \u2018My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?\u2019 and\nStephen prayed in the peaceful enjoyment of full reconciliation, \u2018Lord\nJesus, receive my spirit.\u2019  The burden of the curse was too awful for us\nto bear, and too righteous for God to set aside.  So the Lord, in\nboundless mercy, and with His own full consent, laid it on Him.  There\nwas a transfer of the imputation of guilt, and thus by God\u2019s marvellous\ngrace, blessed be God, in Christ Jesus we are free.\n\nNow all this is done, and done for ever.  Nothing can add to it, and\nnothing can take from it.  We have nothing to do with any fresh sacrifice\nfor sin.  We want no masses for either the living or the dead, and we\nknow we cannot make up any fresh sacrifice by penance or self-denial.  In\nall such matters the one question is, Is the one redemption by the one\nsubstitute sufficient, or is it not?  If it is, we want no further\nsacrifice, for the work is done.  If it is not, we may give up in\ndespair, for it must be obvious to any man that if the substitution of\nthe Son of God fall short of the requirements of the law, nothing that we\ncan add can ever supply the deficiency.  But, thanks be to God, there is\nno room for discussion.  As we are taught in our Communion Service, \u2018He\nmade there (by His one oblation of Himself once offered) a full, perfect,\nand sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the\nwhole world.\u2019  He was Himself the Anointed One of God, even the Son of\nGod.  In His death He fulfilled the covenant of God.  In His resurrection\nHe was accepted as having completed the work of God; in His ascension He\nentered into the holy place, by one offering having perfected for ever\nthem that are sanctified.\n\nAnd now what is the result?  What is the consequence of this completed\nact of substitution?  Surely nothing short of this, that every soul found\nin Him is legally free.  Of course I am not speaking of those who reject\nthat substitution or live without Him.  They must bear their own burden;\nand an awful burden, I fear, they will find it.  I am speaking of those\nwho accept Him as their representative, and are one with Him as their\nsubstitute.  Now to any one of them the great act of substitution has\nbrought a full, complete, legal release.  They are as free from the curse\nof the law as if they had never sinned.  The law has no more power to\ncondemn them than if it had never been issued, or if they had never\nbroken it.  They are washed white as snow in the blood of the Lamb, and\nthere is no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus.  So there we\nmay rest in calm, happy, peaceful trust, for the law is satisfied, and\nthe curse is removed.  In His agony we see our peace, in His death our\nlife, and in His bitter cry on the cross our full, perfect, and\neverlasting reconciliation to God.\n\n\n\n\nX.  ATONEMENT.\n\n\n    \u2018Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a\n    curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on\n    a tree.\u2019\u2014GAL. iii. 13.\n\nWHEN we considered this passage in the last lecture, we did not complete\nthe subject.  We found who the Redeemer was, viz. the Christ.  We found\nwhat it was that He redeemed us from, viz. the curse, or just judgment of\nGod\u2019s righteous law.  We found also what was the redemption price, or\ngreat redeeming act, viz. the substitution of the Lord Jesus Christ, the\nSon of God for the sinner.  But there is a fourth point of the utmost\npossible importance which we had not time to investigate, viz. the\nquestion for whom, or in whose behalf, this great work was accomplished\nby the Saviour.  But there is no part of the subject more vitally\naffecting our own practical life; for unless the Lord Jesus was a\nsubstitute for ourselves, we as individuals may admire His mercy, but can\nnever have a share in the blessing of His saving work.  So far as we\nourselves are personally concerned, our whole hope depends on our being\nincluded in that little word \u2018us,\u2019 when it is said, \u2018Christ hath redeemed\nus from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.\u2019  If we cannot\neach one make use of that sentence in the singular number, and say,\n\u2018Christ hath redeemed _me_, being made a curse for _me_,\u2019 the passage may\ncall forth our admiration, but to our own souls it will bring no abiding\npeace.  It is, therefore, a matter of the deepest personal interest to us\nall that we should clearly understand who is included, and who is not\nincluded, in that word \u2018us;\u2019 or, in other words, who are they that the\nLord Jesus Christ has redeemed by His blood.\n\nIt would have been strange indeed if a matter of such overwhelming\ninterest had been quietly passed by without calling forth a very careful\ninvestigation, and accordingly it gave rise at one time to one of the\nmost prominent controversies of the day.  Indeed there has always been a\ndivision amongst the students of the Word of God on the subject.  Some\nhave believed in what is termed \u2018particular redemption,\u2019 a redemption\nlimited exclusively to the elect; while others have most earnestly\nadvocated the doctrine of a universal atonement, an atonement, _i.e._\nmade for the whole world in virtue of which a free offer of complete\nreconciliation is made without money and without price to every living\nsoul.\n\nIt is my own belief that a great deal of the confusion respecting the\nsubject arises from the indistinct use of words; and I am thoroughly\npersuaded that before we can ascertain whom He has redeemed, we must\nclearly understand what is meant by redemption.  If we do not understand\nredemption itself, we shall never understand its limits.  Now I cannot\nhelp thinking that I have proved that, throughout the word of God,\nredemption means deliverance; and in the case of the great salvation,\ndeliverance through atonement.  In some passages the delivering power is\nmore prominent than in others, as, for example, in Luke, xxi. 28, and\nRom. viii. 23; but in all it is there, and I do not know of a single\npassage in which redemption stands for atonement alone as disconnected\nwith the consequent deliverance.  Whenever it occurs it implies atonement\napplied, or atonement enjoyed, atonement made effectual for the actual\nsalvation of the soul.  But, though it is thus clear in the word of God,\nthere is great confusion in many religious books.  Many writers appear to\nspeak of atonement and redemption as if they were the same, and so apply\nto redemption passages which speak only of atonement, and apply to\natonement those texts which refer, not to atonement only, but also to the\nactual deliverance for which atonement has prepared the way.  It is most\nimportant, therefore, that we should keep the distinction clearly in\nview, and never forget that the redemption of the Gospel includes two\nparts, deliverance and atonement.  The two are bound together as\nintimately as it is possible.  The deliverance is the consequence of\natonement, and the atonement is the cause of deliverance, but both one\nand the other are included in the full idea of redemption, as we may see,\nfor example, in the song sung before the throne, \u2018Thou wast slain, and\nhast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue,\nand people, and nation.\u2019  Rev. v. 9.  That passage clearly goes far\nbeyond the act of substitution in redeeming mercy, for it manifestly\nincludes an actual separation and salvation by delivering power.\n\nNow, if we consider redemption in its full and complete sense of actual\ndeliverance through the precious blood of the Lamb, it is perfectly clear\nthat none but the elect of God are included in the blessing.  As a matter\nof fact the rest are not delivered.  According to St. John, the whole\nworld lieth in wickedness, and if it is still lying in wickedness in no\nsense whatever can it be said to be delivered.  None but the chosen\npeople of God can ever say, \u2018Who hath delivered us from the power of\ndarkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.\u2019  Col.\ni. 13.  As for the rest they do not profess to be delivered.  Some do not\neven wish for the great deliverance; some, though they may feel a certain\nlanguid wish for it, never in earnest seek for it; and others, if they do\nseek, seek in a wrong way, and so never find.  The result is, that\npractically they are not delivered.  Thus we all acknowledge a\nparticular, or limited, deliverance.  We none believe that all are saved;\nand we must believe that the Lord Jesus actually delivers those only who\nare His own, those whom He describes in the words, \u2018The men which thou\ngavest me out of the world.\u2019\n\nBut suppose we take redemption in the sense in which it is perpetually\nemployed in religious books, viz., as meaning the same as atonement,\nthere arises another question of incalculable importance which demands\nour most attentive consideration.  Is the atonement limited as well as\nthe deliverance?  It is perfectly clear that none are delivered but God\u2019s\nchosen people.  They, and they only, are plucked as brands from the\nburning, and eternally saved.  According to the 17th Article, God \u2018hath\nconstantly decreed by His counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and\ndamnation those whom He hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to\nbring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to\nhonour.\u2019  But is nothing done for the remainder?  In other words, did the\nsubstitution of the Lord Jesus Christ extend to the whole world, or did\nit not?  Was atonement made for all mankind in that marvellous act of\nmercy, or were the great majority left out altogether most miserably to\nperish, without any hope of deliverance, and without the possibility of\nbeing saved in the Lord Jesus?  It is impossible to imagine a question of\nmore urgent importance to all those who are anxious about their souls.\n\nNow I am perfectly aware of the argument frequently urged, that the Lord\nJesus Christ is certain to save all those for whom He shed His blood, and\nI am quite prepared to acknowledge that, humanly speaking, there is great\napparent reason in it.  But I do not believe that it is according to\nScripture; and after all we must rely in all such matters on the\nstatements of God\u2019s word, and not on our own conclusions.  I would refer\nyou, then, to two passages which certainly seem to be conclusive on that\npoint.  The one is 1 Cor. viii. 11, \u2018Through thy knowledge shall the weak\nbrother perish, for whom Christ died?\u2019  The other is 2 Pet. ii. 1, where,\npredicting the dangers of the latter days, the Apostle says, \u2018There shall\nbe false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable\nheresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon\nthemselves swift destruction.\u2019  The first of these texts seems certainly\nto teach very clearly that those for whom Christ died may perish, and the\nother that people for whom the Lord had given the redemption price of His\nown most precious blood may still deny Him, and bring upon themselves\nswift destruction.  We must not therefore be guided in such a matter by\nour own conclusions.  The whole plan from first to last is divine.  The\neternal purpose is divine; the Saviour is divine; the salvation is\ndivine; the atonement is divine, and the revelation of the great purpose\nmust likewise be divine.  We must not attempt, therefore, to cut our\nsystem square by the rule of our own opinion, but must take God\u2019s\nScripture just as it stands, and receive God\u2019s salvation just as He has\nrevealed it in His Word.\n\nWhat, then, has He revealed?  That is the question.  Has He taught us\nthat the Lord Jesus Christ shed His most precious blood for the elect\nalone or for all?  Blessed be God! the testimony of Scripture appears as\nplain as the sun in heaven that the atonement was made for all, and that\nin consequence of that atonement the door is thrown open to every sinner\nupon earth.  I have no time now to attempt to bring before you the\nmultitude of passages which abound in Scripture in proof of this\nposition.  I must be content to draw your attention to only three, the\nfirst relating to the fact itself, the second to the love that led to it,\nand the third to the offer made in consequence of it.\n\nThe first is from 1 John, ii. 2.  But before you examine it, turn for one\nmoment to the words of the same apostle in the fifth chapter of the same\nepistle, and 19th verse, \u2018We are of God, and the whole world lieth in\nwickedness.\u2019  That verse shows with indisputable clearness who is meant\nby \u2018we,\u2019 and who by \u2018the world.\u2019  By \u2018we\u2019 is meant the people of God,\nbelievers, the elect.  By the world the rest of mankind, those who live\nand die unconverted and unsaved.  And now turn to the passage in the\nsecond chapter, \u2018And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for\nours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.\u2019  Surely the \u2018our\u2019\nin that verse must refer to the same persons as the \u2018we\u2019 in the fifth\nchapter, and \u2018the whole world\u2019 in the second chapter must be the same as\n\u2018the whole world\u2019 in the fifth.  But if so it is perfectly clear that He\ndied not for the elect alone but for all mankind; for the whole world\nthat lieth in wickedness.\n\nFrom the second passage we learn exactly the same respecting the love\nthat led to it.  I refer to John, iii. 16.  But before we refer to it let\nus turn to another text in explanation, viz., that most wonderful prayer\nof our blessed Saviour in John, xvii. 6, \u2018I have manifested thy name unto\nthe men which thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou\ngavest them me; and they have kept thy word.\u2019  You will observe in these\nwords the clear distinction between the world and the elect.  The mass of\nmen are described as the world, while the elect are said to be given to\nHim out of it, set apart as a separate people, and given Him in the\ncovenant of God.  And now turn to the passage in John, iii., \u2018God so\nloved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever\nbelieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.\u2019  Surely\nwe must take \u2018the world\u2019 here in the same sense as in the other passage.\nIt is impossible to believe that by \u2018the world\u2019 he meant the elect of God\ngiven Him from out of the world, the peculiar people whom He Himself most\ncarefully distinguishes from the world.  Surely, then, we must conclude\nthat the love which moved Him to make the atonement was a love for us\nall, a free love, an unmerited love, a compassionate love, a most\nmerciful love, to every individual involved in the ruin of the fall.\n\nWe are brought to exactly the same conclusion if we look at the offer\nthat results from it.  Turn to that magnificent invitation which we find\njust at the conclusion of the book of life, Rev. xxii. 17, \u2018And the\nSpirit and the bride say, Come.  And let him that heareth say, Come.  And\nlet him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the water\nof life freely.\u2019  Now if you study that verse you find the Bride employed\nin proclaiming God\u2019s invitation.  Who then is meant by the Bride?  Surely\nnothing else than the church of God\u2019s elect; those who were chosen in Him\nbefore the world was.  But how is the Bride to be employed?  What is to\nbe her work as described in this passage?  Is it not to go forth in the\nLord\u2019s name, and proclaim to the perishing the free offer of His saving\ngrace?  \u2018The Spirit and the bride say, Come.  And let him that heareth\nsay, Come.  And let him that is athirst, come: and whosoever will let him\ntake the water of life freely.\u2019  Would it be possible to construct a\nsentence which would proclaim more clearly a universal invitation? an\ninvitation to be given by the elect to all the world?\n\nSurely, then, we may every one of us accept that offer, and regard the\natonement as an atonement made for ourselves.  You may see no evidence of\nyour election.  You may look into your own heart, and find there nothing\nwhatever to lead you to believe that you are one of God\u2019s chosen people.\nBut you are not called to wait till you have discovered such evidence;\nand if you do wait, you may wait for ever, for it is perfectly impossible\nthat you should ever have evidence of your election till after you have\ntrusted in His atoning blood.  But without any such evidence you may fall\nback on the finished substitution of the Son of God for the sinner.  You\nmay take the words of this text, \u2018Being made a curse for us,\u2019 and,\nwhatever you are, may put it in the singular number, and say, \u2018Being made\na curse for me,\u2019 yes! \u2018for me, even for me.\u2019  If, therefore, you are\nreally anxious about the salvation of your soul, do not stop to search\ninto your own sinful heart for evidences of your election; but fall\nboldly on the fact that, whether you are elected or not, Christ Jesus was\nyour substitute.  Cleave to the fact that the propitiation was for the\nworld, that the love that moved God to it was a love to the world; and\nthat the offer made in consequence of it is an offer to the world.  Trust\nthat.  Accept that.  Rest in that, and leave it to God to settle the\nmatter of your election; for of this you may be perfectly sure that you\nwill never enjoy any evidence of your election unto life until you have\nlearned to trust the Lord Jesus Christ, and His perfect work without it.\nYou must learn a lesson from that poor woman of Canaan.  She was\napparently quite shut out by the doctrine of election, for she was not\none of the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and the Lord Himself said\nto her that it was not right to take the children\u2019s bread and cast it to\ndogs.  But she was not discouraged by the difficulty.  She pleaded, \u2018Yet\nthe dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the Master\u2019s table;\u2019 and the\nresult was that she did not merely pick up the crumbs, but she was made\npartaker of the feast itself, and went to her home rejoicing in our\nLord\u2019s approval, and her daughter\u2019s cure.\n\nLet us all then accept the fact that in His boundless mercy He was made a\ncurse for us.  But we must bear in mind at the same time, that He does\nnot force upon us the blessings of that substitution.  If we choose to\nlive without the substitute we may.  If people are so occupied by the\nworld that they do not care for it; or so satisfied with themselves that\nthey do not feel the need of it; or so unmindful of the holiness of God\nthat they cannot see the necessity of it; they are at full liberty to\nreject it, and have full power to live without it.  But then, it is\nobvious they must bear their own burden, and all the weight of it.  The\nLord Jesus has satisfied the law as their substitute; but if they decline\nto accept that satisfaction, it is perfectly clear that there is nothing\nleft for them but to satisfy it for themselves.  They must blot out their\nown curse in their own way, and how they are going to do it I cannot\ntell.  I know of nothing but Christ the substitute that can remove the\njust judgment of a broken law; and if men live and die without Him, I see\nno prospect for them but that they live in their sin, and die in their\nsin, and go down into eternity with the whole of the awful weight of\nunforgiven sin resting on their poor unforgiven souls.  And who can say\nthat such a sentence would be hard, or severe, or unjust?  If there were\nno substitute provided we might possibly think the law severe.  But, now\nthat in boundless mercy God has Himself provided the substitute, who can\nsay that it is a hard measure if the sinner is crushed under the burden\nwhich he resolves to bear?\n\n\n\n\nXI.  FORGIVENESS.\n\n\n    \u2018In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of\n    sins, according to the riches of his grace.\u2014EPH. i. 7.\n\n    \u2018And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is\n    indebted to us.  And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from\n    evil.\u2019\u2014LUKE, xi. 4.\n\nIN our study of the divine redemption we considered from the words of St.\nPaul to the Galatians the great foundation act of the whole, viz., the\nsatisfaction made for sin by the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God.  We\nhad no time then to go on to the consequent deliverance.  But we do not\nwant to have either a building without a foundation, or a foundation\nwithout a building.  In other words, we do not wish either to have a\nsuperficial life of Christian experience without a solid foundation in\nthe great work of atonement, or to be so exclusively occupied by the\natonement as to forget the great practical deliverance which is in fact\nthe completion of redeeming grace.  Having laid the foundation, then, in\nthe study of the ransom, redemption price, or satisfaction for sin, we\nmust pass on to the great deliverance with which God follows up His work\nof mercy.  This we will now do, if God permit, and may He Himself put\nforth the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, and this very day in His own\ngrace deliver souls!\n\nNow what is the first great gift of God in delivering souls?\u2014the first\nresult of the blood of atonement when applied to the salvation of the\nsinner?  I hope that if we were all to speak we should give the same\nanswer to the question, and that there are none amongst us who would\nhesitate to reply, \u2018Forgiveness.\u2019  So long as sin remains unforgiven\nthere can be no freedom, nor any deliverance of any kind whatever.\nUnforgiven sin blocks the way against all hope of escape, and therefore\nwhen God invites a sinner to return He first assures him of the blotting\nout of sin: \u2018I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions,\nand, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.\u2019\n(Isa. xliv. 22.)\n\nBut now arises a question which has sometimes occasioned difficulty in\nthoughtful minds.  A complete forgiveness is the starting-point of the\nChristian\u2019s life; and accordingly this forgiveness of sin is described as\na complete and present privilege, so we read, \u2018In whom,\u2019 _i.e._, in\nChrist the Beloved One, \u2018we have redemption through his blood, the\nforgiveness of sins.\u2019  The apostle speaks of it there as something of\nwhich we are now in the present enjoyment, for he says, \u2018We have it.\u2019  It\nis ours now.  But yet in other passages, such as the Lord\u2019s Prayer, the\nchildren of God are taught to ask for it with as much regularity as for\ntheir daily bread.  How is it, then, that we are told to ask for that we\nhave already?  Why do we pray the Lord\u2019s Prayer every day when we already\nhave redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins?  It is a very\nnatural question, and I cannot be surprised if persons feel the\ndifficulty.  But I believe that if we look carefully at the real work of\nredemption it will throw great light on the subject.  We shall find if we\ndo so that there are two kinds of forgiveness described in the word of\nGod, the one the immediate, and the other the consequent, result of\nredemption.  There is judicial forgiveness as the foundation, and\nparental forgiveness as the consequence: the two being closely connected\nwith each other, and both resulting from redemption.  Let us study them\nseparately.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  Judicial forgiveness.\n\nIn order to understand judicial forgiveness we must consider the judicial\ncondemnation of the unforgiven man, and we must carefully remember God\u2019s\noffices as King, as Lawgiver, and as Judge.  He is a Saviour, but He is a\nruler likewise, and He rules the world in righteousness.  But if we think\nof Him as the great executive of a perfectly righteous and holy law,\nacting on principles of strict and unvarying righteousness, we must see\nin a moment that we have all been brought under judicial condemnation,\nfor the law condemns us all.  It condemned our whole race in the person\nof our head and first father when Adam sinned, and the sentence of death\nwas passed on him as the representative of man.  It condemns our nature\nas alien and strange to God.  And it condemns our lives that have\nabounded in action contrary to His will.  I know that some people find a\ndifficulty in the first two points, and cannot understand the\ncondemnation of the race, or of the nature.  I can appreciate their\ndifficulty, though I am quite sure it is fully met in Scripture.  But I\nhave not time to discuss it now.  But this one thing I am sure is plain;\neven if there were no condemnation on the race or on the nature, there is\nquite sufficient in the past life to bring condemnation on any soul\namongst us.  Even if we had not been condemned in Adam there has been\nquite sufficient to condemn us in ourselves.  There is not one amongst us\nwho is not guilty of that for which he knows himself to be responsible.\nThere is not one who dare stand before God on the plea that he has never\nsinned, not one therefore that must not acknowledge in some form or other\nthat he cannot be saved if the sentence of the law is to be carried out\non his sin.\n\nBut if you think over it you will see that according to natural principle\njudicial forgiveness is impossible.  Law can acquit, and law can condemn,\nbut law cannot forgive.  Law can pronounce a man innocent, and law can\npass the sentence of death, but law cannot pardon the guilty.  Our legal\nposition by nature is perfectly hopeless.  We have incurred a legal and\njust condemnation, but nature has made no provision for a legal and just\nforgiveness.  It is the effort to overcome this insuperable difficulty\nthat has kept thousands of conscientious heathen toiling on throughout\ntheir lives in deep religious anxiety without a ray of light to throw\npeace upon their path.\n\nBut the whole difficulty is met in God\u2019s great plan of redemption, as\nrevealed in those wonderful words, \u2018Christ hath redeemed us from the\ncurse of the law, being made a curse for us.\u2019  The forgiveness resulting\nfrom the great act of redemption is exactly what we want, a legal and\njudicial remission of a legal and judicial sentence.  The sentence of the\nlaw has been as fully carried out in the person of our most Blessed\nRedeemer as it would have been had the whole race been cast into hell for\never.  The whole difficulty is removed by the principle of substitution,\nor satisfaction.  If Christ was made a curse for us, then the curse is\ngone from us, and we are free.  The holiness of the law is honoured, the\nrighteousness of the lawgiver is preserved, the sentence of the judge is\nestablished, not one jot or one tittle of the law is allowed to pass;\nbut, notwithstanding all, the man that has broken it, although he has\nbroken it, is absolutely free.  Thus, in Rom. iii. 26, we are taught that\nthe result of propitiation is, \u2018That God might be just, and yet the\njustifier of him which believeth in Jesus.\u2019\n\nHere, therefore, we have what I have termed a judicial forgiveness, a\nforgiveness in perfect harmony with the strict righteousness of law; a\nforgiveness which is, in fact, the letting forth of God\u2019s eternal love\nwhen all legal claims are satisfied.  Till that redeeming act was\ncomplete, the love was as it were pent up, and could not, in consistency\nwith His own law, flow forth to a condemned people.  But all is different\nnow.  The law itself pronounces in favour of the condemned, and the\nresult is that God is not only faithful, but just to forgive.  And to\nthis righteous forgiveness we may apply the text, \u2018In whom we have\nredemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the\nriches of his grace.\u2019\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nII.  Parental Forgiveness.  But when we are in the enjoyment of this\njudicial forgiveness it may be said, \u2018If this be the case, why should we\nany more pray for forgiveness?  Why should we say the Lord\u2019s prayer?  Are\nwe not taught that we already have forgiveness as we have redemption\nthrough His blood?  To answer this question we must mark the distinction\nbetween judicial and parental forgiveness.\n\nConsider, then, the position into which every believer is brought through\nredemption and judicial forgiveness.  According to verse 6, we are\n\u2018accepted in the Beloved,\u2019 accepted, _i.e._, in Christ Jesus the Beloved\nOne.  And according to Gal. iv. 5, we are made, by virtue of that\nredemption, children of God, for Christ was sent forth \u2018to redeem them\nthat were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.\u2019\nIf, then, we be in Christ Jesus, what is our position?  The curse which\nfell on the whole race through Adam is gone, and we shall soon rise from\nthe dead into new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.\nThe condemnation of our sinful and ruined nature as well as of all the\nsin of all our past lives is forgiven for ever; and much more than that,\nfor, the barriers being all broken down, we are accepted in the Beloved\nand \u2018the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the\nchildren of God.\u2019\n\nWhat, then, is the consequence of this new position?  And what does it\ninvolve?  Nothing less than a parental and filial union.  In Christ Jesus\nyou have a Father who loves you, a Father whom you love; a Father who\ncares for you, and on whose care you may confidently trust; a Father who\nspeaks to your soul by His Spirit, and who admits you into close and\nconfidential intimacy with Himself.  Now it is perfectly clear, that as\nyou pass through life, it will be the joy of your heart to please that\nloving Father.  The more you love Him, the more you will rejoice to\nplease Him, and He gives you the assurance that your efforts, defective\nthough they be, do please Him, for we are told not to forget to do good,\nand to communicate, \u2018for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.\u2019\n(Heb. xiii. 16.)  But, on the other hand, you may grieve Him.  I can\nnever forget the tender love of my dearest mother, or how fondly I loved\nher in return.  I have the greatest satisfaction also in the recollection\nof her pleasure as she witnessed my boyish efforts to carry out her\nwishes and those of my father.  But I can look back to more than fifty\nyears ago and remember one or two sad days in which I pained her.  Oh,\ndear children! never pain your mother, for the thought may remain with\nyou long after she is in the grave, long after the time when you can no\nmore throw your arms round her neck, and ask her forgiveness for what you\nhave said or done to grieve her.  Now it is just the same with our\nHeavenly Father.  We may love Him, truly love Him, love Him without a\ndoubt.  Moreover, we may please Him, please Him well in all things, and\nbring to His service that offering of the whole man with which he is well\npleased.  But we may also grieve Him, and I fear we often do.  The free\nforgiveness through redeeming blood has not removed, eradicated, or laid\nto rest the old sinful human nature.  Thus St. Paul tells us to \u2018grieve\nnot the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of\nredemption,\u2019 Eph. iv. 30; and he shows us how we may do so, viz., by\ncorrupt communication, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking\nand malice.  Do you think that a bad temper does not grieve Him, or\nunkind conversation, or pride of heart, or wandering thoughts in prayer,\nor any of the thousand things that may rise before the conscience of\nthose who are not satisfied with a superficial Christian life?  But if\nthis be the case what do we want,\u2014want day by day as we pass through\nlife?  Surely the parental forgiveness, the loving forgiveness of a\nloving Father, watching in love over His loving child, and with a\nFather\u2019s love, and a Father\u2019s authority, accepting the acknowledgment of\nsin, and day by day freely forgiving it.  This perfectly explains the use\nof the Lord\u2019s prayer by the children of God.  We come to Him in that\nprayer as our Father, and because He is our Father we ask Him as a Father\nto forgive us our sins.  This does not supersede the judicial\nforgiveness, but is the consequence of it.  Nor does it set aside\nredemption, for it is on redemption that the whole sonship depends.\nThere is nothing independent of that most precious blood of Christ.  It\nis through that blood of His that the curse is removed, and the judicial\nforgiveness granted; through that blood of His that we receive the\nadoption of sons, and are brought into the sacred relationship of\nchildren in a Father\u2019s family.  It is through that blood of His that we\nare preserved in that relationship, and stand before the Father in a\ncovenant union with the Son of God Himself.  But resting on this power of\nthe atoning blood, there is a great deal besides judicial forgiveness.\nIf you be asking now the way of life, and anxious that all the sins of\nall your life may be blotted out, that so you may be saved from the\ncondemnation of the law; then your only hope must be in the plenteous\nredemption wrought out for you on the cross when the Son of God redeemed\nyou from the curse, being made a curse for you.  And, thanks be to God!\nthat is sufficient, for it has broken down every barrier, and set the way\nof life wide open before the chief of sinners.  But if you have been\nsaved from that condemnation, so that now you \u2018have redemption through\nhis blood, the forgiveness of sins:\u2019 you have also a great deal more, for\nyou have besides it and resting on it, the unspeakable blessedness of a\nFather\u2019s love.  You may daily fall back on the satisfaction of the law,\nand in consequence of that satisfaction, like loving children may cry,\n\u2018Abba, Father,\u2019 and claim a Father\u2019s forbearance and a Father\u2019s\ntenderness, a Father\u2019s provision, and a Father\u2019s forgiveness.  It is this\nparental love that is the joy of our hearts when we kneel together round\nour Father\u2019s table, this parental forgiveness for which we pray when we\nsay, \u2018Our Father which art in heaven, forgive us our trespasses.\u2019\n\nLet us endeavour, then, to realise the legal condemnation gone; the\njudicial forgiveness granted; the adoption of sons bestowed; the Father\u2019s\ntable spread; the Father\u2019s forgiveness ready; the Father\u2019s love shed\nabroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given us.  And realizing\nthis, shall we not draw near in faith?  Shall we not confess to Him that\nwe are heartily sorry for all our misdoings?  Shall we not ask Him for\nHis parental forgiveness?  Shall we not feed at His table?  Shall we not\nrest on His loving arm?  Shall we not regard it as our chief joy to\nplease Him?  And shall we not out of the fulness of loving hearts exalt\nHis name for the unspeakable riches of redeeming love; and praise Him\nfrom the bottom of our hearts that by His marvellous grace we even now\n\u2018have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins?\u2019 and having\nit, can appeal to a Father\u2019s love for daily forgiveness as for daily\nbread?\n\n\n\n\nXII.  PURITY.\n\n\n    \u2018Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,\n    and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good\n    works.\u2019\u2014TIT. ii. 14.\n\nIF we wish to understand the various passages in the word of God on the\nsubject of redemption, we must never forget the two parts of which\nredemption consists, so often brought before you in these lectures\u2014the\nsatisfaction of the law by the payment of redemption price, and the\nactual deliverance of the ransomed people as the result of the finished\natonement.  It is of especial importance that we bear this well in mind\nin the study of those texts in which redemption is spoken of as being\neither now in progress or still in the future, for there is no\npossibility of any present or future atonement, that having been for ever\ncompleted on Calvary, and such passages can only refer to the work of\ndeliverance which will not be complete till the glorious day of our\nLord\u2019s appearing.  The atonement is complete, but the deliverance is in\nprogress still, and those texts refer to it.\n\nI believe that this remark is of great importance to the right\nunderstanding of this text.  It occurs in the midst of one of the most\npractical chapters in the Bible.  The words are addressed to the various\ndifferent classes of society.  Aged men are exhorted to be sober and\nsound in faith; aged women to be in behaviour as becometh godliness;\nyoung women to be sober and to love their husbands and their children;\nservants to be obedient, pleasant, not contradictory, and honest; and all\nof us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly,\nrighteously, and godly in this present world.\n\nNow, according to the text, the great motive power to all this is the\nfact that our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ \u2018gave himself for us\nthat he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a\npeculiar people zealous of good works.\u2019  Let us study then the redemption\nwork, and the redemption power; and may God the Holy Ghost so bless it to\nour souls that we may be led in practical life to adorn the doctrine of\nGod our Saviour in all things!\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  The redemption work.\n\nTo redeem in these words clearly means to deliver, as the result of the\nfinished atonement.  The foundation of the deliverance is the fact that\nour great God and Saviour Jesus Christ gave Himself for us.  The actual\ndeliverance is described in the words, \u2018that he might redeem us from all\niniquity.\u2019  A question has arisen as to the meaning of this expression.\nDoes it mean that He might redeem us from the curse and judgment of all\niniquity and so set us legally free, as when He said, \u2018Christ hath\nredeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us?\u2019 or\ndoes it mean that by the power of the Holy Ghost He might deliver us from\nthe bondage of all iniquity, and so make us actually a holy people unto\nHimself?  There is much to be said for both interpretations.  \u2018Iniquity\u2019\nmay stand here for the curse, or guilt, of iniquity, as \u2018sin\u2019 stands for\nthe guilt of sin in 1 Pet. ii. 24: \u2018Who his own self bare our sins in his\nown body on the tree.\u2019  Or it may stand for sin itself, and its deadly\npower over the ruined soul.  I am inclined on the whole to prefer this\nlatter application, and to believe that the words describe the actual\ndeliverance from the dominion of sin.  The context clearly points in that\ndirection, and so, as far as I can judge, do the words.  The word here\nrendered iniquity strictly means \u2018lawlessness.\u2019  It is the same word as\nthat in 1 John, iii. 4, where it is translated \u2018transgression of the\nlaw,\u2019 and appears generally to express the actual disobedience to the\nlaw, or will of God.  If this be the case the idea evidently is that in\nour natural condition we are slaves and bondsmen to disobedience, or\nlawlessness.  But that the great God and Saviour made an atonement for us\nin order that He might set us free from that dreadful yoke, and call us\nout to be a people set apart for His praise.  This is in harmony with\nwhat we are taught in Rom. vi. 19, for there we are described as having\nin former times \u2018yielded our members as servants to uncleanness and to\niniquity\u2019 (the same word), and as now being set free by the grace of God.\nBut there can be no such freedom without redemption from the curse of\nsin.  You remember that when a man had sold himself to be a slave, the\nonly way in which he could obtain his liberty was by his kinsman legally\nredeeming him from his master.  So it seems to be here.  Christ our\nkinsman has paid the ransom in order that we, being redeemed, may be\nfreemen unto God, and may now as freemen have the joy of serving Him.\n\nBut this is not all that is done for us, or nearly so, for the text does\nnot merely refer to the bondage from which He died to deliver us, but\nleads us also to consider the new life to which He came to raise us.  It\ntakes the positive side as well as the negative.  It looks forward as\nwell as backward.  It describes the new-master to whom being redeemed we\nbelong, as well as the old master from whom by redemption we are\ndelivered.  Now you see this transfer very clearly in the text.  The old\nmaster is lawlessness, the new master is Christ Himself.  He came to\nredeem us from all iniquity, and \u2018purify unto himself a peculiar people.\u2019\n\u2018Peculiar\u2019 does not mean odd, or eccentric; but special, and separated,\nas you may see by a comparison of Deut. vii. 6, and xiv. 2.  In chap.\nvii. 6, we read, \u2018The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a _special_\npeople unto himself,\u2019 and in chap. xiv. 2, \u2018The Lord hath chosen thee to\nbe a _peculiar_ people unto himself.\u2019  You see that these words\nrespecting Israel of old exactly correspond to those here spoken of the\nredeemed Church, and they completely explain what is here meant by the\nword \u2018peculiar.\u2019  As Israel was a peculiar people, delivered from Egypt,\nand set apart unto God, so those who are in Christ Jesus are redeemed\nfrom the old bondage of their past lawlessness, and set apart as a\nspecial people unto Him who has redeemed them by His blood.\n\nObserve then the three characteristics of this new service, the service\nof the redeemed.\n\n(1.)  It is the service of the Redeemer Himself.  In redeeming us from\niniquity He makes us His own, and sets us apart unto Himself.  If\nredeemed we belong to the Redeemer.  We love Him, we follow Him, we serve\nHim, we are His.\n\n(2.)  It is a pure service.\n\nHe does not merely separate, but purifies us unto Himself.  He carries on\nsuch a sacred work in the soul, and effects such a marvellous change that\nthe words of St. John are realised, \u2018Every one that hath this hope in him\npurifieth himself, even as he is pure,\u2019 and that we even know something\nof the blessing which He described in the words, \u2018Blessed are the pure in\nheart, for they shall see God.\u2019\n\n(3.)  It is a zealous and active service.\n\nIf we are thus redeemed we are not to sit still, and quietly rejoice in a\nholy abandonment of soul; but we are to be up and doing.  There is a\ngreat work to be done for God, and who is to do it if they are idle whom\nthe Lord has redeemed?  We want no slothful, listless, inactive,\nself-indulgent believers.  Our missions are crippled for the want of\nhelp; and our work at home sometimes seems paralyzed by the lukewarmness\nof professors.  But those who are brought near to God, and purified as a\npeculiar people unto Himself, must be filled with zeal for His service;\nfor the lukewarm professor is a scandal to the Church of God.  The object\nof the Lord\u2019s death was to call out a zealous people; and when there is\nno zeal, there is no effective result from the cross, for the purified\npeople, redeemed by His grace, will, according to the text, be \u2018zealous\nof good works.\u2019\n\nNow all this is a work at this present time in progress.  It is not, like\nthe atonement, complete, but is going on now.  It is at this present time\nin progress in the Church.  The people who form the purchased possession\nare being daily gathered in to God.  He has not yet accomplished the\nnumber of His elect.  The body of Christ is not yet perfected, and our\nearnest desire is that day by day, yes, this very day, immortal souls may\nbe delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom\nof His dear Son.  So also is it progressive in the soul of each\nindividual.  We are not suddenly wafted into perfection, or made pure as\nChrist is pure.  This chapter is a very clear proof of that, for while it\nspeaks of the great purpose of the Lord\u2019s death, viz., to redeem us from\nall iniquity it is full of exhortations to all classes amongst us against\npractical misconduct.  It is perfectly clear, therefore, that the\ndeliverance is not yet complete.  There is temptation around and\ntemptation within; sin in the world and sin in our own hearts; corruption\nin society and corruption in our own nature; so that even after we have\nactually experienced redeeming grace, we may say, as St. Paul did, \u2018Who\nshall deliver me from the body of this death?\u2019 (Rom. vii. 24.)\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nII.  This leads to our second subject, the redemption power.\n\nThe redemption power is the Redeemer Himself, and so, as pointed out in a\nprevious lecture, the Lord Jesus is called in Isaiah, lix. 20, \u2018the\nRedeemer,\u2019 and in the quotation of that passage Rom. xi. 26, \u2018the\nDeliverer.\u2019  And this applies whichever way you understand the words.  If\nyou apply them to the curse of sin it is He that delivers from that curse\nby the satisfaction of the law through His precious blood.  He paid the\nransom, and in the Father\u2019s name He has set us free.  Or, if you apply it\nto the bondage of lawlessness, it is equally He that delivers, for it is\njust as much His office to release from the dominion of sin by the power\nof the Holy Ghost as it was to remove the curse.  In either sense the\npassage brings Him before us as a present living Deliverer, not merely\none who has given Himself for us, but one who is now engaged in actually\ndelivering us from all iniquity and purifying unto Himself a peculiar\npeople.  The first clause, \u2018He gave himself for us,\u2019 describes His work\non the cross finished at once and for ever; the latter part, \u2018That He\nmight redeem us from all iniquity,\u2019 His present work as a risen and\nliving Saviour, continuously employed in delivering and purifying His\nChurch.  Whatever we may think of the clause, \u2018that he might redeem us\nfrom all iniquity,\u2019 this is clearly the meaning of the words that He\nmight \u2018purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.\u2019  So\nthat either way we are brought to the indisputable and most important\nlesson, that in our great struggle against sin, either without or within;\neither in the world or in our own hearts; and in our efforts to aim at\nthe practical Christian life exhibited in this chapter, we may take the\ngreatest possible encouragement from the fact that it is the present\noffice of our living Lord to deliver and to purify.  We may be profoundly\nconscious of the deep, inbred corruption of our own nature.  We may know\nby bitter experience how often we have failed; we may be humbled to the\ndust at the thought of our shortcomings; we may be ready to say, as St.\nPaul did, \u2018Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?\u2019 but in the\nmidst of it all we may look up in peaceful trust, and thank God for the\ndelivering power that is in Christ Jesus, our risen and living Head.  We\nmay say as St. Paul did, \u2018I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.\u2019\n\nBut there is one thing which we must be sure to remember.  The purifying\npower depends entirely on the reconciling blood.  According to this text,\nin order that He might redeem and purify, He first gave Himself for us;\nor, in other words, in order that He might deliver, He first made\nsatisfaction for sin by bearing its burden Himself.  We may, therefore,\nbe perfectly sure of this, that we shall never know His power as a\ndeliverer unless we first know the power of His atonement.  Not one\namongst us could ever have been delivered if the curse of God had not\nfirst been removed, and that curse of God could never have been removed\nexcept by the fact that the Son of God became a curse for us.  Till that\nwas done there was no hope of deliverance, and till that is applied or\nappropriated there is no hope of personal holiness.  Before the special,\nor peculiar, people could be purified unto Himself, they must be set free\nfrom the curse, and redeemed through the power of His blood.  Not one of\nthat people has the curse of God still resting on his soul, for so long\nas the curse remains it is perfectly impossible that any one of us should\nbe one of the people.  While, therefore, you trust in a Saviour living to\ndeliver, be sure you keep well in view that same Saviour having died to\natone.  His life will be nothing to you unless you first know His death.\nYou will never experience the power of His work in you until you realise\nHis most gracious work completed for you on the cross.  That blotting out\nof sin through the precious blood of the Lamb must lie at the foundation\nof all true holiness.  It is the rock on which we stand, and unless there\nbe a sure standing ground there is not the slightest hope of progress.\nIf, therefore, you wish to press onward, and earnestly desire to be heart\nand soul holy to the Lord, and I am sure I am speaking to many that do,\nbe sure you keep close to the great old foundation truths.  Trust your\nliving Lord as your living Deliverer.  Accept His promises of the Holy\nSpirit\u2019s power in all their fulness and throw yourself on Him for their\ncomplete fulfilment; but while you do so remember that the one power\nwhich in the purpose of God could remove the curse was the atoning blood,\nand the one hope of your being partaker of the deliverance rests\naltogether on the one fact that the great God our Saviour in boundless\nmercy gave Himself for you.\n\n\n\n\nXIII.  RESTORATION.\n\n\n    \u2018And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift\n    up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.\u2019\u2014LUKE, xxi. 28.\n\nIT is perfectly clear that the redemption alluded to in these words is\nsomething still future.  It is the bright hope which is to cheer the\nlittle flock through the storms of the latter days.  When the world is\nfull of perplexity, and men\u2019s hearts are failing them for fear, the\nLord\u2019s people are to look up in calm, happy, peaceful, trusting hope in\nthe full assurance of their approaching redemption.  \u2018When these things\nbegin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your\nredemption draweth nigh.\u2019  It is perfectly clear, therefore, that our\nLord was not speaking of the great redeeming act which took place\neighteen hundred years ago on Calvary, but of the final deliverance, the\ncompletion of His redeeming work, when He will come in His kingdom and\nset His people free.  This final deliverance must be our subject in this\nlecture.  May the Lord bless it to our souls, and grant that, when the\ntime comes, we may be amongst those who rejoice in the blessing!\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  The redemption here spoken of is the deliverance of Jerusalem.  We\nmust not isolate the passage from its context, or forget that the words\nwere spoken to Jewish believers.  Thus up to the end of the 24th verse\nour Lord foretold the destruction of Jerusalem with the terrible\nafflictions that were to precede it, concluding with the words,\n\u2018Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the\nGentiles be fulfilled.\u2019  Then follows the description of the latter days,\nand all the perils preceding the advent, concluding with the words, \u2018Look\nup, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.\u2019  Surely,\nthen, there is a connexion between the 24th and 28th verses.  The one\ndescribes the desolation, and the other the recovery: the one the\nbondage, the other the freedom; the one the captivity, the other the\ndeliverance; the one the iron yoke on the neck of the captive, and the\nother the glorious restoration when the Deliverer shall appear in Zion.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nII.  But though the passage refers to the restoration of Jerusalem, it\nclearly does not stop there, but includes the redemption or deliverance\nof the Church.  When I speak of the Church I am not speaking of those who\nhave nothing more than outward Christianity: but of the Church of the\nfirst-born, that Church described in the words, Eph. v. 25, \u2018Christ also\nloved the Church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and\ncleanse it with the washing of water by the word.\u2019  This Church is\ndescribed in Eph. i. 14, as His \u2018purchased possession,\u2019 and all the\nmembers of it are now His own.  They are His own by virtue of the ransom\nof the eternal covenant, and it is therefore called, Acts, xx. 28, \u2018The\nChurch of God which he purchased with his own blood.\u2019  And they are His\nown by the call of the Holy Ghost, gathering them out from a wicked\nworld, and by His divine power incorporating them into Christ.  Thus in\none sense they have been redeemed already, for the ransom has been given\nfor their life, and they have found forgiveness through His precious\nblood.  They may say, every one of them, as St. Paul did in the 7th verse\nof that same chapter in the Ephesians, \u2018In whom we have redemption\nthrough his blood, the forgiveness of sins.\u2019  But yet, according to the\n13th verse, they are still waiting for redemption, and during the waiting\ntime are solemnly sealed unto God, and assured of what is to come by the\npresent earnest of the Spirit.  \u2018In whom also, after that ye believed, ye\nwere sealed with that holy Spirit of promise;\u2019 and so, in chap. iv. 30,\nthey are told not to grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom they are \u2018sealed\nunto the day of redemption.\u2019  There is, therefore, hereafter to be a\nredemption of the purchased possession, a redemption of that which has\nalready been redeemed, or, in other words, a final deliverance of the\nransomed Church.  The ransom is paid, but the time is not yet come for\nthe ransomed Bride to be finally free, and presented to her Lord in\nglory.\n\nIt is delightful to look forward to this coming restoration when we think\nof the present position of the Church of God surrounded as it is by a\nwicked world outside, and, what is far more painful, harassed by\ndivision, false doctrine, inconsistency, and formalism within.  I am not\nsurprised that St. Paul compares this present waiting time to the night,\nfor there is a great deal all around us exceedingly dark, but we must\nnever forget the approaching morning.  We may be greatly distressed by\nwitnessing such defects and difficulties as we do witness in the Church\nof Christ, but according to this passage we need not be disheartened, for\nour redemption draweth nigh.  The Deliverer will soon come to Zion, and\nthere will be no difficulties then.  The Redeemer Himself will soon set\nall things straight.  There will be complete light when the Sun of\nRighteousness arises with healing in His wings.  We are not, therefore,\ngoing to be downcast by difficulties, or to doubt His truth because we\nsee His prophecies fulfilled; but, whatever happens, whether persecution\nfrom without, or false teaching within, we will remember His own most\nassuring words, and act on them, \u2018When these things begin to come to\npass, then look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth\nnigh.\u2019\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nIII.  It will be a redemption of the body.  I need not stop to prove that\nthe body is not yet free from the bondage of the curse.  Though the soul\nis free in Christ Jesus the poor body is still subject as much as ever to\nthe strong hand of death.  So we read, Rom. viii. 10, \u2018If Christ be in\nyou, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of\nrighteousness.\u2019  So that, even when Christ is in us, and the Spirit is\nlife, the body still remains dead, subject to death, and actually dying\nas we all well know.  The brightest and holiest living believers are not\nexempt from the trials of a death-stricken body.\n\nBut if this is the case with the living Church, how much more is it with\nthe vast multitude of those who are now asleep in Jesus!  Think of the\nnoble line of the saints of God who were once, as we are, serving God on\nearth in the flesh, but who are now in the condition, to us quite\ninexplicable, of disembodied spirits, with the soul resting before God\nwhile the poor body in utter weakness lies prostrate in the grave.  I\ncannot imagine a more marvellous contrast than that which now exists\nbetween the present condition of the two parts of man while awaiting the\nresurrection of the dead.  It is impossible to imagine any thing more\nutter, more complete, more hopeless, than the bondage and subjection of\nthe body; or more blessed, more peaceful, more joyous, than the present\nrest of the soul in the presence of the Lord Himself.  But when the\nredemption takes place, as predicted in this verse, the body itself will\nbe set free.  You will see this in a moment if you connect two verses in\nRom. viii.  From ver. 10 we have already found that, even when the Spirit\nis life because of righteousness, the body is still dead because of sin;\nand the result is, as you read ver. 23, that even those who have the\nfirst-fruits of the Spirit groan within themselves.  They share in\nrespect of death the groaning of a death-stricken world.  But in the\nmidst of it all they can rise above it in triumphant hope, for they are\nwaiting, and looking out for deliverance, as you read in the latter part\nof that verse, \u2018Waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the\nbody.\u2019  The body therefore shall be redeemed and rise again.  They that\nare in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; and the\nvery sea shall give up the dead that are in it.  I know that men say it\nis impossible, and I know that there are difficulties connected with the\nsubject which to the eye of man appear to prove its impossibility; but\nthere is no such thing as impossibility with God.  He who created can\nrestore.  He who said, \u2018Let there be light,\u2019 and there was light, He can\nsay \u2018Let there be life,\u2019 and there will be life.  So that, although to us\ndeath is quite irresistible; though no wealth can ward it off, and no\nphysician\u2019s skill can baffle it; and although, when once it has taken\nplace, all human hope is gone for ever; yet, when the Redeemer comes to\nZion, death itself will be powerless: those dear ones who now sleep in\nthe grave will come forth in risen bodies at the bidding of their blessed\nSaviour; and He, the gentle, and loving, and tender Lord Jesus, will\nfulfil His grand prophecy as given by the prophet Hosea (xiii. 14), \u2018I\nwill ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from\ndeath.  O death, I will be thy plagues!  O grave, I will be thy\ndestruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.\u2019\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nIV.  There will be a redemption of the soul, _i.e._ a completion of that\nsacred work now being carried on in the soul through the power of the\nHoly Ghost.  There is clearly a wide difference between the sacred work\nof deliverance as carried on in the body and the soul; for the\ndeliverance of the body is not yet begun, but will be accomplished in one\nsudden act when the Lord shall appear.  But it is not so with the soul;\nfor in it the deliverance has been long since begun, and is day by day\nbeing carried out by the power of the Holy Ghost.  Our blessed Lord has\nalready delivered us, if we be in Him, both from the curse and dominion\nof sin: from the curse, for \u2018we have redemption through His blood, the\nforgiveness of sins;\u2019 and from the dominion, for \u2018sin shall not have\ndominion over you, for ye are not under the law but under grace.\u2019  Rom.\nvi. 14.  If, therefore, we are in Christ Jesus, and under grace, our soul\nis delivered from the dominion of sin, though our body is not yet\ndelivered from the dominion of death.  You may ask, then, how it is that\nthe soul still wants deliverance?  Look at the 12th verse of the sixth of\nRomans, only two verses before the one just quoted, and you read, \u2018Let\nnot sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should fulfil it\nin the lusts thereof.\u2019  It is, therefore, there, though it must not\nreign.  It has life in it, and it is prepared to reign, but it must be\nput down.  It has its lusts and desires, but they must be mortified, and\nnot fulfilled.  The power of sin is not extinct or quiescent, but in full\nvigour still.  The old original corruption is not destroyed, but remains\nin full activity.  The grace of God triumphs over it, but it is there;\nand there, not in a state of death, but of life and vigour.  If you think\nyou have done with sin you will find it will soon crop up, if in no other\nform, in pride of heart, and blindness to its power.  We can therefore\nperfectly understand the complete harmony of the two verses in Rom. vii.,\nthat are sometimes thought contradictory: verse 6, in which he says, \u2018Now\nwe are delivered from the law,\u2019 and verse 24, \u2018Who shall deliver me from\nthe body of this death?\u2019  From the law, as involving the curse, we are\nalready free; from the infection of a ruined nature we are still waiting\nto be delivered.  And think for a moment what a deliverance that will be.\nYe that have been deeply humbled at the discovery of your own utter\nunworthiness, ye that would describe yourselves as St. Paul did as \u2018the\nchief of sinners,\u2019 and \u2018less than the least of all saints,\u2019 think what it\nwould be to be set at once absolutely free from indwelling sin.  Picture\nto yourselves the day of His coming.  Think of yourself on your knees in\nthe morning, confessing sin, and praying for pardon and for help, for\nmercy and for grace.  And then think of yourself at night, having in the\ncourse of the day beheld Christ as He is, and having been so transformed\nby the sight that you have become altogether like Him, without a single\ntemptation or difficulty left, and with every stain and tendency to sin\nrooted out, and gone for ever.  But this is what we are led to expect in\nthese words of St. John: \u2018Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it\ndoth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall\nappear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.\u2019  No wonder,\nthen, that with such a hope in view our Lord directs us, even in the\nmidst of the fears and perplexities of the latter days, to look up, and\nlift up our head, for our redemption draweth nigh.\n\nBut one thing we must remember.  We shall never rejoice in the redemption\nor deliverance that is to come, till we can rest in the redemption or\natonement that is complete.  There are many amongst us, I sadly fear, who\nfind no pleasure in the thought of the Lord\u2019s return, and in many cases\nthere can be no doubt about the reason.  They have found no peace through\nHis cross.  I believe that no one ever cares for the Lord Jesus Christ as\na Deliverer from either death or sin till He knows Him as the Redeemer\nfrom the curse.  No man can look up and lift up his head if he expects to\nrise again to the resurrection of damnation, and to be cast forth for\never with all the guilt of all His sin on his miserable head.  Therefore\nit is that, till you know the atonement by blood, you will never care for\nthe deliverance by power.  Till you know the sufficiency of the ransom\nyou are sure to dread the coming of the Deliverer, as, I fear, too many\ndo.  Look backwards, then, as well as forwards, I most earnestly entreat\nyou.  Accept the assurance of the coming deliverance in all its fulness.\nAccept it in all its joy.  Rejoice in the blessed hope.  But take care;\nand while you look forward in the hope that your redemption draweth nigh,\nremember also to look back on that finished atonement, and never rest\ntill you can appropriate these words to the Ephesians, \u2018In whom we have\nredemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.\u2019\n\nOne word before we close respecting the sacred feast of the Lord\u2019s\nsupper, in which it is our sacred privilege as believers to gather round\nthe table of our Lord.  It is a connecting link between the two parts of\nredemption, the atonement and the deliverance, the cross and the advent.\nIn it we look backwards and forwards, as we are taught 1 Cor. xi. 26:\nbackwards, for we show the Lord\u2019s death; and forwards, for we do so \u2018till\nHe come.\u2019  When He does so, we shall sit down with Him at the marriage\nsupper of the Lamb, and our symbolic service will cease in the\nrealisation of the fulness of His blessing.  Oh! how I pity those who are\nmoved neither by memory or hope, by the recollection of what He has done,\nor the hope of what He is about to do; who never show the Lord\u2019s death\naccording to His own appointment, and never act as if they were waiting\nfor His coming!\n\n\n\n\nXIV.  HEAVEN.\n\n\n    \u2018And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,\n    and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed\n    us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,\n    and nation.\u2019\u2014REV. v. 9.\n\nIN the preceding lectures it has been my privilege to direct attention to\nthe important subject of redemption, and I think we cannot do better in\nclosing the series than examine in this lecture what they think of it in\nheaven.  They know there more than we do here, for they have passed\nwithin the veil, and they know by experience those great and most blessed\nresults which we can only anticipate in faith.  In their case sight has\ntaken the place of hope, and through redeeming grace they are in actual\nenjoyment of the visible presence of God.  Of course, therefore, they are\nbetter able than we can be to form a just estimate of what the Lord Jesus\nhas done for their salvation.  Let us then devote this morning to the\nstudy of what they think of redeeming love.\n\nWe all know very well what a natural craving there is to look in beyond\nthe veil, and to see what is passing amongst those who have already\nentered.  What would we give for one half-hour\u2019s intercourse, or for even\na telescopic view of that happy assembly now gathered before the throne?\nWhat would it be to us if for one short minute we could see the heavens\nopened?  But something of this kind was permitted to St. John, as we\nread, chap. iv. 1, \u2018A door was opened in heaven,\u2019 and a voice said, \u2018Come\nup hither.\u2019  Immediately he was in the Spirit, and having entered he saw\nsome of those very things which we long to see, but which no other living\nman has ever been able to see, and to report.  St. Paul may have seen\nthem when he was caught up to the third heaven, but if he did, he was not\npermitted to tell us what he saw.  But St. John was expressly employed to\ndo so.  He was distinctly commanded to write the things which he had\nseen, and this book is the result.\n\nWhat, then, did he see?  He saw in the first place a throne, and on the\nthrone one sitting.  Round about the throne were twenty-four seats, and\n\u2018upon the seats four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment;\nand they had on their heads crowns of gold.\u2019  But besides the elders\nthere was a marvellous manifestation of spiritual life, inexplicable to\nus who have no experience of the life of a spirit without the body: for\nin chap. iv. 6, we read, that \u2018in the midst of the throne,\u2019 and round\nabout the throne, were four living ones.  These living ones were clearly\nin the most intimate relationship with the throne and with Him who sat on\nit.  They were as near to it and to Him as was possible, for they were in\nthe midst of it, and round about it, while in an outer circle stood a\nvast host of angels.  From chap. v. 11, we see clearly that these angels\nwere in an outer circle, not so near the throne as the living ones, for\nthere we read: \u2018I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round\nabout the throne, and the living ones, and the elders, and the number of\nthem was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.\u2019\nIn this description the only real difficulty is with reference to the\nelders and living ones, for we are not distinctly informed who they were.\nAccording to the reading of ver. 9 and ver. 10, as given us in our dear\nold English Bible, it appears perfectly plain that together they formed\nthe company of those whose ransomed souls are now resting before the\nthrone, for they said in their hymn, \u2018Thou hast redeemed _us_ by thy\nblood . . . And hast made _us_ unto our God kings and priests.\u2019  But\nthere seems to be a doubt about that \u2018_us_,\u2019 and, therefore, we must not\nrely too much on it.  But on the whole there is reason to believe that\nthe vast multitude of happy spirits now before God awaiting the\nresurrection, are represented by this inner circle of elders and living\nones already brought as near as possible to the throne, and surrounded by\nthe vast company of angels, who, having been sent forth to minister unto\nthem during their pilgrimage, can rejoice without jealousy in their\nblessedness, even though they are placed in a position of greater honour\nthan themselves.\n\nBut our business in this lecture is not to discuss the persons seen in\nheaven, but rather to examine what they think of redemption, to learn how\nfar their account of it agrees with our own, and to find in what\nestimation they hold the redeeming work.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  Their account, or description of it.  Does the account which they\ngive in their hymn agree with the account which we have gathered from the\nrest of Scripture?  I think it does exactly, and I would ask you to\nnotice four points.\n\n(1.)  They speak of redemption as a deliverance.  We have found\nthroughout the Word of God that to redeem is not merely to make\natonement, but to deliver by means of a ransom.  In all the passages that\nwe have examined it has included the idea of actual deliverance.  It has\nnever been applied to the act of propitiation alone.  Now turn to this\nhymn of the elders and living ones before the throne, and there you see\nprecisely the same idea: \u2018Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out\nof every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.\u2019  There was an act\nof outgathering and ingathering.  They were gathered out as a separate\npeople from all nations of the earth, and gathered in to be a peculiar\npeople unto God.  The passage reminds us of those words in John, xi. 52,\nwhich teach us that the great object of the death of the Lord Jesus was,\n\u2018that he should gather together in one the children of God that were\nscattered abroad.\u2019  So this heavenly hymn describes them as being thus\ngathered in one before the throne.\n\n(2.)  It is a redemption through the most precious blood of the Lamb.\n\nThe deliverance, or the gathering, is not simply an exercise of power,\nbut is the result of atonement by blood.  It is not merely the act of the\nHoly Ghost calling the sinner, but the act of God making atonement, or\ngiving Christ to die for him.  Before one soul could be drawn out from\nthe ruin of the world, and gathered in to God, the barrier of the curse\nmust be taken out of the way, and the law satisfied by its complete\nfulfilment in the Person of our Redeeming Head.  Till the ransom was paid\nnot one soul could be set free, and therefore the hymn says, \u2018Thou hast\nredeemed us to God by thy blood.\u2019\n\n(3.)  They are raised to a position far above a mere pardon.  We learned\nwhen we studied the case of Ruth that the redeemed are not merely\ndelivered from ruin, but brought to a position of the highest possible\nhonour, for the ransomed Church becomes the Bride of the Redeemer, and is\nidentified with Christ Himself.  So here you observe that the redeemed\nare not merely forgiven, but they are raised to new honours, new powers,\nnew service, and new glory.  \u2018Thou hast made us unto our God kings and\npriests, and we shall reign on the earth.\u2019  I have not time to dwell on\nthe sacred blessedness of that royal priesthood.  It combines the honours\nof the king and the service of the priest.  It is a kind of reflection of\nthe double office of the Lord Himself, of whom it is said, \u2018He shall sit\nand rule upon his throne, and shall be a priest upon his throne.\u2019  The\nredeemed are made kings under Him to govern, and priests in Him, and\nthrough Him, to present a holy service unto God.  Do not be satisfied,\ntherefore, to let your mind dwell exclusively on the first elementary\nsubject of forgiveness.  I know the importance of it, and know well that\nthere can be no such thing as peace until you can trust for a pardon.\nBut I am speaking to those who can trust for forgiveness, who have\nlearned the power of redeeming blood, and who are now resting in the\nassurance of the blotting out of sin.  To them I say, Go forward, and\naccept your new position, acknowledge your high calling, carry out your\nroyal priesthood, and never forget that you are anointed, and set apart\nas kings and priests unto God.\n\n(4.) This leads me to the fourth point, that we are redeemed unto God.\n\nWe found from the study of St. Paul\u2019s words to Titus that our most\nblessed Saviour redeemed us to be a peculiar, or special people unto\nHimself, so that all God\u2019s redeemed are sanctified, or set apart, unto\nHim.  This is exactly what is taught in the hymn of heaven, for there we\nlearn that we are redeemed, not merely from sin, but unto God.  \u2018Thou\nhast redeemed us unto God by thy blood.\u2019  \u2018We are made kings and priests\nunto God.\u2019  It is true of the believer, as it is of the Lord Jesus\nHimself, that \u2018In that he liveth he liveth unto God.\u2019  By atonement every\nbarrier is broken down, and the way of access laid open even to the very\nthrone of God Himself; and by the call of the Holy Ghost we are set apart\nunto God, to bear His name, to live as His sons, to do His will, to act\nas His witnesses, and to be as it were His representatives in the midst\nof a wicked world.  We are not redeemed simply in order that we may be\nsaved, but in order also that God may be glorified.  As God\u2019s chosen\npeople we are brought near to God Himself, in order that we may go forth\ninto life, to glorify His name.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nII.  It is clear, therefore, that the account given in heaven of the work\nof redemption is exactly the same as that which is taught us throughout\nthe word of God.  Let us pass on to consider what is the heavenly\nestimate of the sacred work, or in other words, What do they think of it\nthere?  What value do they set on it?\n\nFirst.  What do the elders and the living ones think of it?  The chapter\ncontains the description of a remarkable scene in connexion with a\ncertain book, which was seen in the right hand of Him that sat on the\nthrone.  A strong angel proclaims with a loud voice, \u2018Who is worthy to\nopen the book, and to loose the seals thereof?\u2019  But \u2018no man in heaven,\nnor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, and to\nloose the seals thereof.\u2019  There was something so sacred about it, that\nno man was found worthy even to look on it, and the result was that St.\nJohn wept much.  Some people seem to care very little whether the book of\nGod is closed or not; but he shed many tears when the sacred book seemed\nclosed to his view.  But one of those elders who sat around the throne\nsaid, \u2018Weep not: behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of\nDavid, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals\nthereof.\u2019  So he beheld.  He looked for the Lion, but when he looked\nthere stood a Lamb, a Lamb as it had been slain, the Lord Jesus Christ,\nour Redeemer; and He came, and took the book out of the right hand of Him\nthat sat on the throne.  It was this that called forth this hymn of\npraise from the living ones, and that led them to sing a new song,\nsaying, \u2018Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof:\nfor thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.\u2019  Now\nobserve that hymn, and note carefully what it was that in their sight\nconstituted the worthiness of the Lamb.  It was not His Divine Sonship;\nnot His pre-existence as God; not His eternal and unspotted perfection;\nnot His present exaltation to the right hand of the Father\u2019s throne: but\nit was the fact that, in order to redeem, He had been slain.  It was the\ngreat act of redemption that gave Him a worthiness far beyond that of any\nother either in heaven or earth.  He was honoured with an honour far\nabove anything ever known, even in heaven, and the reason was that as a\nRedeemer He had died.  If you ask, then, What is heaven\u2019s estimate of\n_redemption_? the answer is, That it is thought there to be so gracious,\nso wonderful, so divine, that it brings more honour to the Lord Jesus\nthan all the other glories of His most glorious eternity.\n\nBut what do the angels think of it?  They are disinterested witnesses.\nIf the living ones are the spirits resting before the throne, they have\nbeen saved by it; and, therefore, of course they have their deep personal\ninterest in it.  But it is not so with the angels.  They never fell, so\nthey have had no need of redemption, and can only regard it as a work\nwrought out for others.  But there is no selfishness apparent in their\nspirit.  I often think that the great charm of the angels\u2019 character is\ntheir complete unselfishness.  So there was nothing selfish about their\nsong, for though they were only lookers-on, or rather ministers, though\nthey could not say, as we can, \u2018Thou hast redeemed us,\u2019 though not one of\ntheir number was saved through the redeeming blood, yet the whole vast\nmultitude joined heart and soul in the adoration of redeeming mercy, and\nas soon as the hymn of the living ones was brought to a close, they all\nburst forth in their own song of praise, and said with a loud voice,\n\u2018Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and\nwisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.\u2019\n\nBut the worship did not stop even with them.  St. Paul teaches us that\nthe whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now,\nfor the whole is affected by the fall; and that a time is coming when,\nthrough redeeming grace, the creature itself shall be delivered from the\nbondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.\nNo wonder, then, that creation itself is here represented as taking part\nin the joy of redemption.  The whole creation is described as catching\nthe spirit of praise.  The living ones and the angels were not allowed to\nhave a monopoly of thanksgiving, and, therefore, as soon as the angels\u2019\nhymn was ended there was a grand outburst of praise from the whole\ncreation of God: \u2018And every creature which is in heaven, and on the\nearth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are\nin them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be\nunto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and\never.\u2019\n\nAnd now, dear brethren, what shall we do?  Shall we go home indifferent\nto the subject?  Shall we, whose life depends altogether on redemption\nleave it as a thing uncared for?  Shall there be no note of praise from\nus?  Ye that know redeeming grace, shall there be no hymn of praise from\nyou?  Surely we must not wait till we see Him on the throne, and hear the\nhymn of the living ones.  Those who are on earth according to this\npassage are to join in the chorus, so we will lose no time in doing so;\nand before we leave the church we will unite in the grand old hymn\u2014\n\n    \u2018Come, let us join our cheerful songs\n       With angels round the throne;\n    Ten thousand thousand are their tongues,\n       But all their joys are one.\n\n    Worthy the Lamb that died, they cry,\n       To be exalted thus;\n    Worthy the Lamb our lips reply,\n       For he was slain for us.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nADVERTISEMENTS.\n\n\nWORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.\n\n\n1.  Redemption.\n\n  A Companion Volume to _Sanctification_.\n\n  Just published, in square fcap. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._\n\n2.  Palestine and Russia.\n\n  5th Thousand.  16mo. cloth, 1_s._ 6_d._; paper cover, 1_s._\n\n3.  Rome, Turkey, and Jerusalem.\n\n  17th Thousand.  16mo. cloth, 1_s._ 6_d._; paper cover, 1_s._\n\n    \u2018Mr. Hoare argues on the broad, simple lines of prophecy, in a way\n    which to our mind must bring irresistible conviction.\u2019\u2014_Clergyman\u2019s\n    Magazine_.\n\n4.  Conformity to the World.\n\n  New Edition, revised.  16mo. cloth, 1_s._ 6_d._; paper cover, 1_s._\n\n    \u2018An admirable parochial book.\u2019\u2014_Evangelical Magazine_.\n\n5.  Inspiration: its Nature and Extent.\n\n  New Edition, revised.  16mo. cloth, 1_s._ 6_d._; paper cover, 1_s._\n\n    \u2018Selects several important points of a wide subject, and treats them\n    soundly.\u2019\u2014_Christian Observer_.\n\n6.  The Doctrine of the Lord\u2019s Supper,\n\n  AS TAUGHT IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.  Fcap. 8vo. sewed, 6_d._\n\n7.  The Communion and Communicant.\n\n  New Cheap Edition, revised and enlarged.\n\n  18mo. sewed, 3_d._; or 2_s._ 6_d._ per dozen.\n\n8.  Baptism,\n\n  AS TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE AND PRAYER-BOOK.\n\n  Sixth Edition.  Fcap. 8vo. sewed, 4_d._\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n        Just published, the Second Revised and Cheaper Edition of\n\nThe Family Commentary on the Holy Bible.\n\n  By the Rev. CHARLES GIRDLESTONE, M.A.\n\n  In 6 vols.  Imp. 8vo.  Lg. Type, 10_s._ 6_d._ each; or the set in 6\n  vols. or 3 vols. 3_l._ 3_s._\n\nVol. I.  GENESIS TO DEUTERONOMY.    Vol.  IV.  ISAIAH TO MALACHI.\n\n,, II.  JOSHUA TO ESTHER.           V.  MATTHEW TO JOHN.\n\n,, III.  JOB TO SONG OF SOLOMON.    \u201e VI.  ACTS TO REVELATION.\n\n            The _only_ Family Commentary on the _whole_ Bible.\n\n    _Prospectus_, _giving Specimen of Type_, _Opinions of the Press_,\n                                _Clergy_,\n                   _and others_, _sent on application_.\n\n The Author has just placed this work in Messrs. HATCHARD\u2019s hands, owing\n to the retirement from business of the late publishers, Messrs. SUTER &\n                                   Co.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n            Just published, in small crown 8vo. 420 pp. 6_s._\n\nThorough:\n\n  Being an attempt to show the value of Thoroughness in several\n  departments of Christian Life and Practice.\n\n  By Rev. Sir EMILIUS BAYLEY, Bart., B.D., Vicar of St. John\u2019s,\n  Paddington.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n           Just published, in square crown 8vo.  450 pp. 6_s._\n\nPleasant Memories:\n\n  A Woman\u2019s Thoughts and Life-work.\n\n  By JOHN BAILLIE, D.D., Author of \u2018Memoirs of Adelaide Newton,\u2019 &c.\n\n    \u2018Dr. Baillie\u2019s skill as a biographer is attested by the popularity of\n    his works; the present volume, although shorter and more condensed,\n    might, in point of interest, take its place with \u2018The Memorials of a\n    Quiet Life,\u2019 which have attained so much celebrity.  There are over\n    twenty-three chapters, and any one of them may be taken up and read\n    with the confidence that it will disclose matter both of interest and\n    of solid value.  The whole may be described as rightly termed\n    \u201cpleasant memories\u201d for the author, and \u201cprecious\u201d also for his\n    readers.\u2014_Record_.\n\n         Just published, in square fcap. 8vo. cloth, 2_s._ 6_d._\n\nThe Church and the World:\n\n  Their Mutual Relations, God\u2019s Retributive Righteousness in His dealings\n  with them; the Key to Sacred History, Past, Present, and to Come.\n\n  By Rev. A. R. FAUSSET (of York), Joint Author of \u2018The Critical\n  Commentary.\u2019\n\n    \u2018A remarkably able and interesting work.\u2019\u2014_English Churchman_.\n\n    \u2018We have reaped much profit from the perusal of this book, and would\n    heartily recommend it to all who love to look into the teaching of\n    the pure word as to the matters on which it treats.\u2019\u2014_Word and Work_.\n\n     Just published, in square fcap. 8vo. cloth antique, 2_s._ 6_d._\n\nTemptation: its Nature and Limits.\n\n  By the Rev. DANIEL MOORE, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Paddington.\n\n\n\nMESSES. HATCHARD\u2019S NEW SERIES.\n\n\n   _In Small 8vo. cloth_, _bevelled_, 1_s._ 6_d._; _paper cover_, 1_s._\n\nThe Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.\n\n  By the Very Rev. DANIEL BAGOT, D.D., late Dean of Dromore.  1_s._ 6_d._\n  & 1_s._\n\n    \u2018The general scope is highly satisfactory.\u2019\u2014_Record_.\n\nThe Immortality of the Soul.\n\n  By the Rev. 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Plymouth Brethrenism.\n\n  3rd Thousand, revised.  1_s._ 6_d._ and 1_s._\n\n    \u2018Admirable . . . The errors are calmly and clearly pointed out, and\n    ably refuted.\u2019\u2014_Rock_.\n\n2.  Maude; or, The Anglican Sister of Mercy.\n\n  New Cheap Edition.  1_s._ 6_d._ and 1_s._\n\n    \u2018A valuable little work.  No more useful book could be put in the\n    hands of those who are in danger of being led away from the obvious\n    duties of home and every-day life into a state that has a specious\n    appearance of higher religious life.\u2019\u2014_Record_.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nThe Sons of Eli.\n\n  By the Rev. C. H. RAMSDEN, M.A.  1_s._ 6_d._ and 1_s._\n\n  Words of Caution, Counsel, &c., addressed to the Children of Godly\n  Parents.\n\n    \u2018A wise and understanding guide.\u2019\u2014_Christian Observer_.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                    By the REV. BOURCHIER WREY SAVILE.\n\n1.  Turkey;\n\n  Or, THE JUDGMENT OF GOD UPON APOSTATE CHRISTENDOM.  1_s._ 6_d._ & 1_s._\n\n    \u2018Eminently interesting and suggestive.\u2019\u2014_Record_.\n\n2.  The Bride of Christ.\n\n  With a Reply to the Bishop of Lincoln\u2019s Work on the Millennium.  1_s._\n  6_d._ & 1_s._","title":"Redemption","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":38751}