Peace and pardon.

Penitence essential to pardon.. Peace deferred.

due to your sins, and that henceforth you may go free, safe and happy in him, the past remitted for ever,- and the path of holiness and peace now opened broadly before you, and inviting you on..

We must make a clear distinction, however, between peace and pardon. Cases are constantly occurring, where a person who, from peculiar circumstances, has obscure or clouded views of the nature of forgiveness, and the necessity of a Savior, is still really penitent for sin. If penitent, he will be forgiven, in fact he is forgiven, though it may be, as it very often is, weeks and months, and even years, before he sees so clearly the nature of redemption through the Son of God, as to have peace and happiness restored to his heart. The great point is, to induce sinners to return to God, and to give their hearts to him. If they do it right, they will be humble, and watchful, and prayerful, and God will guide them to all truth; but there are many instances where peace to the troubled spirit is long delayed. The little child may begin to love its Maker, before it knows any thing about the way of safe forgiveness: so may a halfinstructed pagan: so did in fact the Savior's disciples; they thought their master was to have redeemed his country by political power, until they actually saw him crucified; and even in christian countries, a soul may be often so shut away from the light and influences of the gospel in their purity and power, as to feel after a Savior a long time, in vain. Moral renewal is the essential thing for pardon. A knowledge of the salvation by Jesus Christ, and clear ideas of the great sacrifice for sin, give peace. St. Paul, the ablest, the most powerful and thorough-going preacher of the cross, that ever lived, understood this, when, standing before the august assembly at Athens, he preached simple repentance, and a judgment to come. Nay, we have higher authority still, for Jehovah himself sent priests and prophets, for

John Bunyan's view.

Christian at the Cross.

four thousand years, simply to call upon his people to repent of sin and do their duty; they made but a very few obscure allusions to a Savior,- so obscure that they were not understood till that Savior came.

John Bunyan has beautifully exhibited this view, by making Christian carry his burden long after he has entered the narrow way. His face was turned towards Zion, and though he fell into many sins, and encountered many difficulties, his heart was changed. He felt the burden of sin, and sought relief from a friend whom he found on the way. But the friend replies, " Be content to bear it, till thou comest to the place of deliverance, for there it will fall from thy back of itself."

This burden, now, was not the burden of existing sin, but of responsibility for past sin. If it had been the former, the guide would have given him very sad advice. No, it was not the present pollution of sin, but its past responsibilities which became so heavy a burden, and though his heart was renewed, and he was in the right way, it was some time before he came so near to the cross of Christ, as to understand and feel its power in relieving his conscience of its load. He went on afterwards with light and happy steps

The great question then, with every religious inquirer is, whether you have found penitence, not whether you have found peace. Do you relinquish sin? Are you weary of it, and do you loathe and abhor it, on its own account, as an evil and bitter thing, from which you can sincerely pray to be freed. There is a burden resting upon you, which still destroys your rest, and while your heart has really returned to God, and you can find no happiness but in him, you wonder that you continue wounded and miserable, instead of finding the relief at once, which you hoped penitence would bring. You conclude, therefore, that you are not penitent, though you are almost conscious that you are so; and you sink, over

The way to remove the burden.

Come to the Savior.

whelmed with the difficulties of understanding the movements and the condition of your own heart.

You feel a

burden, and think it must be the burden of guilt.

If your heart is really in the condition I have described, it is the burden of responsibility for past sins, which hangs over you and bows you down, though your heart is really renewed, and consequently you are freed, in some degree, from its present power. The remedy is the cross of Christ. Come to it, and see what he has done and suffered for you. Look at the moral effect of this great sacrifice, and feel that it takes off all the necessity of punishment, and all the burden of your guilt Come and trust to this. Seek union with Christ, so as to be one with him, and open your heart to the full admission of his assurance, that you may, through this union, have all past responsibilties ended for ever, and that all the blessings which his unfailing obedience and spotless perfection have deserved, may flow in upon you. But oh, remember, if you do thus come and give yourself to your Savior, going free from the bitter fruits of sin, through his sufferings, and expecting to enter your home in heaven, under his protection, and in his name,remember that giving yourself up to him, must not be an empty form. Christ gave himself for us, not to have us go on in sin, after receiving its forgiveness, but to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself, a peculiar people. If you hope for pardon in this way, you must give up the world and sin entirely, and for ever. Henceforth, its allurements and temptations must be nothing to you. You must say, in language, which, like a great many other passages, on every page of the New Testament, is dark to those who have not experienced its meaning. "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Plan of this work.

Analysis of preceding chapters.

CHAPTER VII.

THE LAST

SUPPER.

"I have desired to eat this passover with you, before I suffer."

THE plan which has been followed in the progress of this work, may not have been very obvious to the reader. It was our design to present the great elementary truths of the religion of the gospel, as they naturally connect themselves with the circumstances of our Savior's history. We accordingly commenced with his childhood, and were led at once, into a train of reflection on the nature and the character of that eternal and invisible essence, whose attributes were personified in him. His conduct and character as a man, came next before us; then the views of religious duty which he came to urge upon men. The rejection of his message by mankind, the consequences of it, and the way by which these consequences may, in any case, be prevented, naturally followed, leading us a little away from the immediate history of our Savior. We now return to it,- ready, however, to be led away again, whenever necessary to accomplish the great design of this volume.

We have already shown that the great object which the Savior had in view, in the influence he endeavored to exert over men, was to induce them to repent of sin, and to return to duty; and not to make them theoretically acquainted with theological truth. He pressed moral obligation, and endeavored to arouse and to enlighten conscience. He did indeed assure them of forgiveness, if they would abandon sin, but he left them in a great measure, to be taught, by future revelation, which was to be made by his Spirit to the apostles, in what way that

Jerusalem.

Supposed feelings of the populace.

The last supper. promised forgiveness was to be obtained. It was not until after his resurrection that he discoursed freely and plainly, even with his disciples, on this subject. Then, indeed, he explained the subject to them fully. He showed them that he ought," that is, that it was necessary for him "to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory; and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them, in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself."

He ap

This full disclosure of the nature and objects of his mission was not made until after his death. proached, however, to such a disclosure, in his last sad interview with his disciples, on the night in which he was betrayed. It is to the circumstances and character of this interview, that we have to call the attention of our readers in this chapter.

Jerusalem was crowded with strangers, so much s that, though the enmity against the Savior had been gathering strength, until it was now ready to burst all barriers, the leaders did not dare to proceed openly against him, for fear of a riot among these multitudes, which they should not be able to control. They feared the people, it is said, for the people loved to listen to him, and therefore would probably defend him. They greatly misunderstood the human heart. He deserved to be beloved, and they thought that he would be; but the very populace whom they so much feared, instead of feeling any disposition to protect their innocent victim, joined the cry against him. Far from giving them any embarrassment or restraint, their clamor was the very means of urging the Roman Governor to do what his own sense of justice most plainly condemned.

At any rate, the enemies of the Savior thought it wise to proceed with caution, and they were, at this time, laying plots for his life We shall consider the nature